Reclamation
by FieryArtemis
Summary: So what happens after Tadashi Hamada "comes back from the dead" three years after the fire at SFIT? How does one rebuild their life and reconnect with friends and family? A drabble/oneshot series in the "Scientist" AU. Amnesiac!Tadashi/Tadashi Lives!
1. Bugs in the Circuits

**A/N:** Welcome to my drabble/oneshot series! Alrighty, here are some important notes before we get started. First and foremost, these drabbles and oneshots are going to be based off of the AU I set up during _Scientist_. If you haven't read it, chances are that you're going to be a little lost. If you want to go on, proceed with caution. The most important things you need to know is that in this AU: Tadashi has/had amnesia, is in the process of regaining him memories, was held hostage by Hydra, and has been absent for three years.

Note number 2! These stories will range from cute and fluffy fics to probably dark. There will be lots of friendship bonding stories and stories that explore deep emotions such as guilt and fear. Also expect stories and scenes that I wasn't able to fit into _Scientist_ for whatever reason. I will try to write a brief description before each posting as to what each chapter is about. That way you readers have adequate forewarning. It is also probable that other Marvel character might make cameo appearances. Any major events in the MCU though should be considered as loose interpretations of what happened in the movies. I.E. in this AU, Loki attacked New York City and Coulson did get stabbed; however, Coulson doesn't seem to be playing the "let's pretend I'm dead" game. Just roll with it... because sometimes I'm not even sure...sorry.

Note in the third! Vera, my OC from _Scientist_ , will probably star in a handful of these oneshots. I can't say to how many as this series is just "a post as I write" type thing but don't be surprised if there's some random OC that takes center stage every so often. As in _Scientist_ , my OC is not there to be a love interest. And while we're on the subject of love interests, I should probably put it out there that there probably won't be a lot of shipping in this series if there is any shipping at all.

I thank you all in advanced for your readership and, without further ado, I give you the chapter.

* * *

 **Bugs in the Circuits  
** Tadashi is stuck in a rut with his latest robotics project. Luckily, he has a friend with an extensive background in Industrial Engineering to help him figure it out. A GoGo/Tadashi friendship bonding fic.

* * *

Tadashi spat a string of curses in English before slipping into the Japanese curses. Hiro would've had a field day, yelling "swear jar," if he was around to hear him. He was not though so Tadashi was allowed to have his ire in peace. Tadashi slammed his head down on the work bench and resisted the urge to bang his head repeatedly until his ears bled. Or he gave himself a concussion. Whichever came first. Boy it was a good thing that Baymax was with Hiro too. This new project did _not_ have him in a good mental and emotional state.

Instead of beating his head until he had serious bodily injury, Tadashi split the difference and threw his hands into the air. "I'm just gonna set it on fire!" he yelled at the computer. Yep! That seemed like a good plan.

"Um, if it's all the same to you I'd rather you not set anything on fire. Especially given your track record with fires." came GoGo's dry remark over his shoulder.

Tadashi sat up straight, taken off guard. He turned to see GoGo leaning against the side of the garage door with her arms folded over her chest. Tadashi felt his cheeks go red at the sight of her stern expression. "Sorry, I didn't realize you were there." he said with a wince.

GoGo shrugged. She seemed completely unaffected by the comment. However, Tadashi could see the way she clenched her hands into fists against her sleeves. Tight and wound like a spring. He wasn't sure if he was his still fuzzy memory that had keyed him into GoGo's nervous tick or if it was just his own current perception. Either way he let it go so as not to make GoGo anymore uncomfortable than she was.

She pushed away from the side of the garage and walked to his side inside his home lab. "I don't recommend saying anything like that around Hiro. The image of you and fires together is pretty sensitive." GoGo said.

"Yeah, I can see why." muttered Tadashi as he brushed his fingertips over the horrid burn scars that ran across one side of his face and down his neck. Niether he or GoGo were able to look at each other for a moment. Thankfully, GoGo wasn't the kind of person to linger in discomfort.

"Do you realize what time it is?" she asked him as she raised her eyebrow.

"Umm..." he started as he eyed the clock over her shoulder. "Lunch time?"

"Aunt Cass says you've been down here for nearly five hours. She also said that you were supposed to go to work three hours ago." GoGo said. The grimace on his face must have said it all. GoGo smirked at him. "You forgot didn't you?"

"No! I _am_ technically working. It's the project I'm working on for S.H.I.E.L.D. anyways."

"At home instead of at your fancy S.H.I.E.L.D. lab?"

"Yes..." Tadashi smiled weakly as he ran his hand through his hair. "I've done it before."

"Your boss must love you." GoGo told him with marked but playful sarcasm.

"So long as I get the job done, Coulson doesn't mind where I do it."

GoGo just shook her head and sighed. "I was buying coffee at the cafe andd Aunt Cass asked me if I'd come over and make sure you weren't crushed under a piece of equipment or something. Said she would have done it herself but it's swamped up there. So explain to me why you felt the need to bring your work home with you? And maybe why you're threatening it with a fiery death?"

Tadashi scrunched his nose up in irritation. He flung his arms out at the computer pointedly. "It's this new project I'm working on! I've been running computer sims on it for the better part of three days and it has done nothing but run into figurative brick walls. I brought it home last night hoping to jumpstart it first thing this morning but nope! Still running around back to square one at every turn. And on top of that..."

He cut off abruptly when he heard a strange sound that sounded a lot like GoGo snickering at him. Tadashi glared at her. "This isn't funny. This is serious! I'm on a deadline."

"This is sooo typical you Hamada boy." GoGo's grin was wider than her face. "Nice to see that not much has changed in the past three years you were gone."

"Glad to reassure you of that fact." he replied with an eye roll.

GoGo suppressed her smile, albeit not very well, and patted him on the shoulder. "Once you get to the building stage it will get better. You were always better at that part than computer simulations."

"I actually _like_ the building part." he grumbled under his breath. He cast another at the computer before sighing dejectedly. Tadashi rubbed at his face.

"So what exactly is this project of yours or is it top secret, hush-hush?" GoGo asked as she peered over his shoulder.

"It's an advanced search and rescue droid." he told her as he moved sideways for her to see better. GoGo shot him a look. Tadashi could only assume that she hadn't expected him to be so candid about his work. Okay, so maybe it wasn't all that weird considering that it _was_ a semi-governmental project. Coulson hardly ever gave him projects that came with a security clearance though. "When it's finished it will be able to go into a variety of highly dangerous situations. I've planned to have scanners that will be able to detect victims, either living or deceased, as well as the capability to scan for electronic signals. It will be able to lift a hundred times it's weight to sift through debris and extract trapped victims."

GoGo whistled in appreciation. "I'm assuming that you're basing some of the scanner programming off of Baymax?"

"A little bit but with some modifications. Hiro has already given me full access to his notes on all of his upgrades... or at least the notes he could find."

"That sounds about right for the kid genius. Let me guess though. It isn't the scanners that are giving you issues."

"No," grumbled Tadashi as he levelled a glare at the computer screen. "It's the exoskeleton. I'm trying to find the happy medium between strength and durability in the metal composition. All I can find though is the stress point where the metal snaps in two!"

"Yeah I can see that. Too much of one element makes it fairly heat resistant but completely robs it of its flexibility. Too little of it makes the frame more pliable but turns it into putty when heat's applied." GoGo easily surmised from the log of data on the side of the screen.

"Don't even get me started on the sims I've run for cold conditions." he groaned.

"Any chance you can get your hands on some Wakanda vibranium**?" she asked. Her tone was completely joking though.

Tadashi snorted, "That would be nice except for the fact that there was an incident that halted all mining of that ore."

"Huh?" GoGo questioned.

Tadashi felt the color bleed out of his face. That was bordering on things he wasn't supposed to talk about with anyone. GoGo noticed. "Do me a favor and forget I even mentioned that. It involves the Avengers."

"Right... okay then." she replied slowly. "No vibranium so you have to stick in the land of easily found and readily available."

"Yep, pretty much."

GoGo made a thoughtful sound in the back of her throat as she leaned over his chair. Her eyes studied the screen critically. "You said you've been working on these sims for three days now?"

"Yeah and I'm still fairly certain that the next logical step in the process is to destroy it utterly."

"How often have you been taking breaks Tadashi?" GoGo asked seriously.

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean. How often do you stop to regroup after putting together a simulation?"

"Um... I haven't." he admitted sheepishly. Why did he get the feeling there was something unpleasant coming?

"So with the exception of _maybe_ a few hours of sleep, you've been staring at this computer program nonstop?"

"Yeah, I guess so." he shrugged. His premonition of something unpleasant happening to him came to pass as GoGo smacked the back of his head. Tadashi gave a yelp and recoiled. GoGo was glaring at him. He rubbed the sore spot on his head and glowered at her. "You gonna tell me what that was for?"

"No wonder you're hitting a brick wall you idiot. You haven't taken any time to let your mind rest. You need to slow down and work with some fresh eyes after so many negative sims. C'mon Tadashi! Seriously! You know that."

Alright, so maybe he did but he couldn't just stop. He was working on a deadline. Even more importantly the sooner he got this project to the building and programming stage, the sooner the robot could be out in the world helping people. Tadashi opened his mouth to protest. Unfortunately, GoGo knew him too well. She held her hand up to silence him. "Save it Hamada boy. I'm sure you have some sort of line about how you want to get this robot out there so it can help people. I heard it a million and one times when you were building Baymax."

He really couldn't stop the irritated look that graced his face. GoGo gave it right back without missing a beat. She also managed to pull his chair away from the desk. "Up!" she told him as she waved him out of his seat.

"Now what did I do?" he whined.

"You've looked at this too long. You need a break. If you have no objection to it, I'll give your simulations a look over and see if I can spot something you might've missed." GoGo explained. Tadashi suddenly remembered that GoGo had a degree in Industrial Engineering. If anyone could give him a fresh perspective, it was her.

He shook his head. "No I don't mind."

"Your boss won't care?" asked GoGo.

"Coulson? No, he encourages scientific collaboration." Tadashi said as he vacated his seat. GoGo slid into it.

"Alright, now go get us some coffee." she directed him.

"I have a coffee pot right over there." he pointed out with a wave towards the coffee pot that he and Hiro shared.

"I mean real coffee. Not that crap that you and Hiro drink when you go on work binges. Besides, you don't need to be hanging over me while I check things out."

"Didn't you just get coffee?"

GoGo rolled her eyes, "Well now I want a danish. So get going."

Tadashi turned towards the garage door. With any luck, GoGo might be able to help him work out the bugs in the circuits. He might not have to set this project on fire after all.

* * *

** Wakanda Vibranium is the fictional metal that Captain America's shield is made out of. The incident referring to the cessation of mining is a thinly veiled/vague reference to _Age of Ultron_. As BH6 isn't technically in the MCU, anything dealing with the Avengers (or other Marvel characters) is pretty loose in its interpretation.


	2. Oops

**Title:** Oops  
 **Summary:** Tadashi goes behind Hiro's back and inspects Baymax but encounters some... issues.

 **Notes:** The ending is a bit cliched and I'm not very excited with it. I know other authors have covered this particular angle and have done it better. However, it's been a little bit since I posted something for _Reclamation_ and I thought I'd put this out there at least.

* * *

"Tadashi," Baymax said sounding almost reproachful, "I am unsure why you feel the need to conduct this inspection without Hiro's knowledge."

Tadashi gave Baymax a sheepish look as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I just don't want Hiro to feel as though I'm butting into his work." he explained with an awkward smile.

If Baymax could have raised an eyebrow, Tadashi was sure he would have. "It is my opinion that Hiro would not mind. He is eager to share all his work with you." Baymax informed him.

He gave a shrug. Though Tadashi didn't doubt that Baymax was telling the truth, he didn't quite feel comfortable enough to ask Hiro. Hiro, to be fair, _had_ given him permission to give Baymax a closer look. After being gone three years though, Tadashi felt like he was constantly worrying about overstepping boundaries. Baymax might have been his project at one point but now he was Hiro's. On top of that, Baymax was an integral part of the Big Hero 6 team. He wasn't going to fiddle around or change anything with Baymax's programming. Tadashi just wanted a closer look without feeling as though he had a reason to constantly doubt himself.

Tadashi pulled a heavy duty and long USB cable out from the table in the garage lab. "Alright buddy," he said to Baymax as he pressed the access port open, "I promise not to change anything around. I just want to see what's going on."

"I understand." Baymax said.

As he lifted the USB cable to the access port, Tadashi brushed his fingers over the slots in the port. There were three of them but there was only one red chip in the port. Thanks to his retrograde amnesia his memory had more holes than a sieve; however, he distinctly recalled a green chip. At least he was pretty certain he'd programmed the original healthcare procedures on to a green chip. "Tadashi is something wrong?" asked Baymax.

"Huh," Tadashi snapped out of the thought he'd fallen into. He shook his head, "No, no. It's just that... wasn't your healthcare protocol chip green?"

"Yes," answered Baymax. "The red chip is my karate chip."

To emphasize the point, Baymax demonstrated a downward knife-hand strike. It promptly sent some empty soda bottles clattering to the ground. Tadashi looked down at the fallen bottles and blinked. "Oops." Baymax said.

Alright then. At least he wasn't misremembering anything. However, if the chip in Baymax's access port was his crime fighting chip then where was his healthcare protocol chip? Common sense immediately chimed in and supplied the idea that the programming was hardwired into his internal memory. If that was the case though Tadashi wondered just how big Baymax's hard drive was. Baymax was leaning towards the bottles but Tadashi stopped him. "I'll pick them up later Baymax. Let's just get you plugged in."

Tadashi inserted the USB cord into the access port and turned back to the computer screen. File after file popped. Tadashi opened a few of them and skimmed through. He was aware of Baymax standing behind him and observing his every movement. The little red light that Hiro had installed at some point told him that Baymax was currently running his own scan on Tadashi. "I'm fine Baymax." he assured him as he clicked open Baymax's hard drive file.

"You are excited." Baymax supplied.

"Yeah, a little. Do you realize just how much Hiro has put into you? It's insane." Tadashi told him with a smile as he looked back over his shoulder.

"The upgrades Hiro has given me have made me both a better healthcare companion and superhero but not without occasional problem."

"Well no one's perfect." laughed Tadashi.

Just as he'd guessed, Hiro _had_ programmed Baymax's healthcare protocols into his hard drive. Tadashi found it interesting though that Hiro had backed up said hard drive three or four times within the last week. The backup files themselves were probably on an external hard drive somewhere upstairs in their shared room but the log was right there on the computer screen. Digging back even farther showed that Hiro was fanatical, or paranoid, and backed up Baymax's hard drive an extraneous number of times. It made him raise his eyebrow. "Hey Baymax, why does Hiro back up your hard drive so much? Does your system crash on a regular basis?"

"I believe Hiro backs up my hard drive because it is beneficial to his mental well being." explained Baymax.

Very briefly Tadashi wondered why obsessively backing up Baymax's systems was 'beneficial to his mental well being' as it was so put. He quickly dismissed it though for the moment but made a mental note to try and find a way to ask about it without looking too suspicious. Also, where was the healthcare protocol chip now? Another thing he'd find a way to ask Hiro about.

Baymax let Tadashi work without comment or conversation. It was like opening up a piece of himself that he hadn't seen in a long time thanks to his amnesia. Hiro had made a lot of changes to Baymax over the years but underneath those changes was _his_ own foundations. There was no mistaking the programs that he'd written and designed. Everything from the advanced A.I. that allowed Baymax to learn and grow on the fly to the low battery shutdown sequence had Tadashi's fingerprints all over it.

Something sad washed over him. Baymax might have originally been his idea. He might have done the initial building and programming. However, it was Hiro who had continued working on Baymax after he'd disappeared. It was Hiro who had turned Baymax into something that could be used in the real world. It wouldn't be much longer before Baymax would be ready for the professional market for use in hospitals, doctor's offices, and anywhere else he was needed. That was all Hiro. Beneath Tadashi's disappointment, pride welled in him. His otouto was amazing. Hiro and Baymax had helped so many people. Tadashi was just glad he could be a part of that, no matter how small that part was.

Tadashi file surfed for probably about twenty minutes and it was about that time that he came across a file that was labelled "avoid at all costs." He raised his eyebrow. It was thrown beneath five layers of files in Baymax's healthcare protocol system. As far as he could tell though it was supposed to be there. "Hey Baymax? This file that's been marked 'avoid at all costs,' what is it?"

"I am not sure. I can't remember." Baymax admitted. Wow, if only a robot could sound confused.

"What do you mean you can't remember. It's on your hard drive. You should have access to it." Tadashi said as he ran his hand through his hair. It was weird that Baymax couldn't access the file. "Hang on. Let's see if we can figure it out."

He cracked his knuckles and set to work. It wasn't hard to get the file reader opened. As he read and scrolled, Tadashi again found himself raising his eyebrow. The file history made it look as though someone had tried to scrub the file off Baymax's hard drive, failed, and then reloaded it from a previous back up. Okay, so obviously the person who'd tried to delete the file was Hiro but why.

Tadashi misclicked on something. There was a hard mechanical whine from behind him. He whipped around right in time to see Baymax's eye sensors go dim and then black. Then there was another click as the internal fan kicked into overdrive to cool circuits down.

Tadashi's eyes went wide. "Nonononononono!"

He jumped to his feet, sending the chair flying off to the side. Tadashi cursed frantically as he fumbled to Baymax's side. Baymax drooped to the side but he somehow managed to keep him upright. "Baymax? Baymax?" Tadashi yelled as he looked back and forth between the robot and the computer.

The sound that was coming from Baymax as well as the program on the computer told him that Baymax was still functioning. Why he'd suddenly gone unresponsive, though, Tadashi had no idea. He also didn't have any idea what he'd done. All he knew was that he had just caused his brother's robotic pride and joy and crime fighting partner to malfunction. Oh God! He was so dead!

He turned away from Baymax and went for the toolbox laying on the ground beside the table. "Okay, just stay calm. Keep cool. Whatever happened… you can just fix it. You can fix it." he mumbled under his breath as he shifted through tools.

Suddenly, the electronic whirring and whining stopped. Tadashi looked up and around as Baymax straightened stiffly. His eye sensors came back on, blinking a bit but otherwise normal looking. The fan inside cycled off and Tadashi felt himself breath a huge sigh of relief. Baymax's programming must have rebooted itself. Tadashi laughed a little as the knot of stress in his chest slackened. "You alright buddy?" Tadashi called out as he leaned against the table for balance. "You kinda scared me there for a moment."

"Many boys on the cusp of flowering into manhood start to experience changes in their body around thirteen or fourteen years of age." Baymax recited rigidly.

"Wait what?" Tadashi blinked in confusion.

"Changes include minor ones such as developing hair and major ones such as a deepening of the voice." continued Baymax.

"Um, are you trying to give me the birds and the bees talk?" Tadashi asked as his jaw dropped. "Baymax trust me when I say this but I'm kinda beyond this conversation."

"You may notice changes to your gen…"

Tadashi's went so wide that they nearly popped out of his skull. "Nope! Not going there! I'm satisfied with my care!"

There was an internal mechanical whir as Baymax stopped his impromptu sex education talk. Of all the things to reboot by default, it had to be _that_ conversation? Seriously? Then he glanced up at the computer screen. He could've smacked his head into the corner of the table. The file that Hiro had tried so hard to scrub was the sex talk. Tadashi paused. It was almost comical. Leave it to a teenager to try delete that programming. Tadashi bit his lip and tried not to laugh. At least Baymax wasn't malfunctioning anymore.

"Many boys on the cusp of flowering into manhood start to experience changes in their body around thirteen or fourteen years of age." Baymax suddenly started again.

Tadashi closed his eyes and pressed his hand to his face. Apparently he'd spoken too soon. "I'm satisfied with my care." he repeated.

Baymax stopped once more… only to start on the same spiel again. Okay, so the deactivation phrase only reset the program. Great. That was great. "I'll just let you run your course then." mumbled Tadashi as he fought back embarrassment.

He pulled himself into the desk chair, intending on allowing Baymax to cycle through. Hopefully he would be back to normal after he got it out of his system. That didn't mean though that Tadashi didn't rub his temples in a mixture of frustration and embarrassment the entire time. He just had to sit there and wait. After that it would all be better.

Except it wasn't. Baymax finished his sex education speech, complete with pictures and diagrams, about ten minutes later. And then he promptly started it over again. Tadashi grimaced, "Oops."

After about the third time Baymax cycled through his speech, Tadashi had had enough. It wasn't the best idea but it was the only one he had at the moment. "Alright Baymax. I'm sorry it's come to this but it's time to try the good ole' fashioned fix it… turning you off and turning you back on."

With a decisive click, Tadashi shut down Baymax's system from the computer. At least Hiro had a million and one backups for Baymax. He opened the most recent one on the computer to reload Baymax. After he was certain that everything was going to be alright and that he hadn't broken Baymax beyond repair, Tadashi turned back to the sex education programming that Hiro had apparently tried to get rid of. With the endless cycle of death that it had sent Baymax into it was little wonder why Hiro had buried and marked it "avoid at all costs."

A sigh escaped his lips. Something like that could be a problem if it ever came up again. A big problem. Without really realizing what he was doing, Tadashi turned back to face the computer and pulled a notepad towards him. Maybe if he started from the programming framework he could create a patch to fix the bug. Hiro would _probably_ understand.

* * *

 **A/N:** And there it is... the whole Baymax malfunctions and gives Tadashi the "birds and the bees" talk. Over done I know and honestly it was funnier when I had the idea. Maybe I'll come back to it later? I don't know. Anyways, maybe some Vera and Big Hero 6 interaction next week for all of you who read _Scientist_?

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter and added the story to their alerts and favorites!**

 **Guest (anon review):** Thank you for your compliments! I am willing to take requests! I might not be very punctual with getting some of them written and posted but I love getting ideas and prompts! I think I will definitely use your request. Thank you so much!

 **FireandIce128:** Follow up TV series? Thank you! I just really enjoy writing in this AU and I felt like there were a lot of things that I couldn't get to or write during the main story. Oneshot follow ups seem to be the best for continuing on for me right now.

 **Ember Neutron:** Hiro and Vera will definitely grow into a pretty strong friendship. I think all of the members of BH6 would get along fairly well with Vera for various reason. Hiro and Vera though I'm really looking forward to writing more of their dynamic. Part of the next thing I want to post next time will have some Hiro and Vera friendship fluff.

 **Lionskye:** I'm glad you enjoyed "Bugs in the Circuits." Tomadashi bonding was a lot of fun to write. I'm hoping to expand and write some bonding for everyone and Tadashi. As for Marvel Cinematic Universe canon tie-ins, there are just some characters who are too awesome to leave out. Coulson was always one of my favorites.

 **XXPay4XtraShippingsXX:** I wanted to go with something light and fluffy for the first oneshot. I also didn't want to go with something that starred Vera right off the bat. I wanted to keep the focus on Tadashi and co because, as you said, they've been through a lot. I do have some _darker_ oneshots swimming around my head though. Because there's darker stuff that probably needs to be addressed after everything that's happened (both in canon and in _Scientist_ ).


	3. Five Calls plus One part 1

**A/N:** I really like the whole "Five plus one" prompt so I had to try my hand at it in my _Scientist_ AU. This is Vera centric and has a few tidbits of her life and her relationship with the members of BH6. Vera is my OC from my story _Scientist_ and she calls Tadashi "Chiune." Any time she mentions Chiune, she is referring to him. For a full explanation of why Vera calls Tadashi by a different name please see _Scientist_. Also, Vera is NOT meant to be a love interest for any canon characters. She has a very sisterly relationship with Tadashi.

 **Title:** Five times that Big Hero 6 called Vera, and one time she called them.  
This is part one of two.

* * *

The recognizable 'doo-do-bloop' sound that skype made came pouring through her computer speakers a little after nine p.m. "Little late for you to be getting calls, isn't it?" Professor Harnwell teased her as he looked up from the pile of court documents he was reviewing for the next day's client meeting.

Vera blinked a couple of times before actually registering the computer screen that was sitting off to her side. She'd been staring at papers so long that she was nearly certain that her eyes were crossed. However, she needed a couple more blinks before she registered the fact that the name calling her on skype was not one that she had actually accepted herself. Damn it Chiune. He'd gone through and found all his friends on skype and then added them to _her_ address book as well as his own. For what reason, Vera had no clue.

She gave a heavy sigh and massaged her temples. "It's probably Chiune using one of his friends' computers on the West coast to get a hold of me. Do you mind?"

Prof Harnwell rolled his eyes but smiled as he waved dismissively before looking back down at his papers. Vera clicked on the answer button to accept FreddyzillaKaijuMan's call. Then she instantly regretted it.

"Hey Superhero girl!" cried the overly exuberant voice of Fred of Big Hero 6, filling the otherwise quiet room with extremely loud chatter. Vera jumped about six feet in the air and felt the color drain out of her face. "How's it hanging?"

"Fred!" snapped Vera as she raised her hands into the air to gesture angrily. "You can _not_ just yell that out like that! You have no idea who's with me on this end!"

Prof Harnwell looked up at her, surprise decorating his face. Vera winced as she looked over at him. The look on Fred's face when she turned her attention back to him was stricken. "Oh my God! I'm so sorry. I forgot. Did I just… " Fred started to say in rapid fire.

"Blow the cover on my former identity?" Vera finished for him in a clipped tone. Fred was only able to nod stiffly. The look of panic was still ingrained in his features. Vera gave another sigh before she took pity on him. "No, not to anyone who doesn't already know at least." she assured him gently.

The panic melted from Fred's face. "I'm so sorry. That was way stupid of me. Like, I should totally know this whole routine."

"Would this be a good time for me to go get coffee Vera?" Prof Harnwell asked her. The tone of his voice made her look up again. He was grinning wide at her as if he thought the entire situation was hilarious and was just barely able to keep his amusement to himself.

"No, it's alright professor." Vera shook her head.

"No, I think it's time for coffee." Prof Harnwell insisted as he stood and stretched. He gave her shoulder a squeeze before patting it. "I'll be back in a few minutes. Should give you and your friend enough time to hash out any Superhero/metahuman business you need to attend to."

Prof Harnwell waved to her as he shut the door to the office. The smug little smile on his face made her shake her head.

"You told your professor about your secret identity?" Fred asked her curiously as he turned his head to the side.

She shrugged, "Wasn't so much as me telling him as it was having an overpass come crashing down on top of us. It was either get crushed or reveal myself. I kinda like living so it wasn't all that difficult of a decision to make if you catch my drift."

"Oh I totally caught it!" Fred grinned. Vera smiled back awkwardly as he continued to stare at her in awestruck silence. Vera fought back a cringe. It was the same look he'd given her when he'd realized just who she was on the tarmat in San Fransokyo that day. She would bet that he was probably thinking about who she had been again judging by the look on his face. It was a bit disconcerting.

"So… um… what's wrong?" she asked after a moment of that aforementioned awkward awestruck expression. He managed to shake off the weird awestruck look before answering.

"Why does something have to be wrong in order for me to call you?" Fred questioned.

"Because you don't ever call me." Vera pointed out, her eyebrow raised. "None of you ever call me except Chiune."

Fred blinked in surprise. "Huh, you're right. Guess we'll have to change that."

Vera wasn't sure exactly what Fred meant by that comment. She chose to ignore it though in favor of getting back to the issue at hand. "Alright, so if nothing's wrong why the call at nine at night?"

"I wanted your opinion on something…" Fred's voice trailed off.

"And that would be on what exactly?" Vera reminded him as she resisted the urge to massage the bridge of her nose again.

"You're an expert on Supervillains right?"

"Supposedly, at least that's why S.H.I.E.L.D. keeps me on their payroll. Why?"

"Okay, so we've got this villain y'see. Only he doesn't seem to have high tech gear or science-y things at his disposal."

"So he's a metahuman?" Vera surmised. Without even realizing it, she'd flipped to a new page on her legal pad and was jotting notes down.

"Yeah, with some super weird powers. We'll be chasing after him and then he'll just disappear but when Baymax's scans for him everything comes up nil."

Vera snapped her hand up to stop Fred before he could go any farther. "This is the part where I say full disclosure and tell you that I know absolutely nothing about how other metahumans' powers work. I can point you in the direction of a biological scientist who dabbles in genetics that is mostly discreet but fully trustworthy."

"Oh no!" Fred said quickly as he shook his head. His hair went flying around his face from the force. "No, no! Naw, we got that part. He's a ghost."

Vera stared at Fred, blinking and wondering if she'd heard that right. Judging from the look on Fred's face she had indeed heard him correctly. She glanced down at the clock on her computer screen. God it was too late for this. "Fred," she said slowly, her voice hedging on a warning.

"Well, his metahuman abilities mimic that of a ghost. Kinda cool when you think about it. Lowers his body temperature and everything so his heat signature can't be detected. He also shoots this really weird stuff that I call ectoplasm but it has some radioactive properties so GoGo and Wasabi won't let me touch it. I've dubbed him Everwraith."

"Okay, that's kind of scary and cool. I'll give you that but, again, can't help you break down metahuman abilities so if you're looking for ideas on weaknesses… I can't really help you."

"Totally cool with that. Got Hiro and Honey Lemon working on that one. What I need your help with is how do you get a ghost to come out during the daylight?" he asked.

"Have you tried holding a seance?" Vera inquired as she felt the corners of her lips pull up in a smirk.

Fred laughed hard enough for his head to disappear out of frame. "Y'know, I suggested that but strangely no one thought it was a good idea. Wasabi asked me if I was effing insane and asked me if I'd ever seen Seance: the Summoning. Didn't realize that was the standard to which we were striving towards."

Vera snorted and she couldn't stop the laughter that followed it. Somewhere in the office she was sure that Prof Harnwell could hear her because she was so loud. Though it was probably the same for Fred wherever he was at. When Vera finally was able to sit up straight again there were tears in her eyes. "Alright, alright... " she said as she drew a breath to steady her giggles out. "Drawing a Supervillain out. Focus."

Fred pressed his lips together to seal off his own laughter and nodded. She wiped the last of her tears away and thought. "Honestly, if this Supervillain wants to act like a ghost, treat him like a ghost. He doesn't have a motive. He has 'unfinished business.' He isn't causing problems. He's 'haunting.'"

"Ohh! I like that!" Fred breathed as a grin stretched across his face. "Go on."

"Find his crypt, his haunting ground, whatever you want to call it. Then do what any good ghost hunter would do… piss him off."

For a moment Fred just looked at her in mystification. His face broke into a huge grin. "Bang some doors, chase him around with flashlights and voice recorders…"

"Ask weirdly invasive questions, annoy the ever living snot out of him. You got it. Get him mad enough and he'll chase you anywhere you lead him. He'll probably be off kilter enough for you to push him off his game and so you can get an upper hand."

"We can totally trap him! I love it! Man, Wasabi's gonna hate it though."

"Obviously the standard be careful warning applies and you'll have to figure out where to find him and what he's after."

"It will get us started though." Fred nodded enthusiastically. "Thanks for the advice Vera."

"No problem. Now I'm going to kick you off because I have a lot of work that I need to get done before I leave the office."

"Right! I need to get back to the others and flesh out the rest of this plan. Wasabi is soo gonna hate you."

"Oh I'm sure. Have a good night Fred."

"Don't work too hard hero girl." Fred waved to her before ending the call. Vera laughed a little under her breath as she sat back in her chair. Tiredly she ran her hand through her hair.

"You done?" Prof Harnwell asked as he came through the door bearing a pair of steaming coffee mugs.

"Yeah, just giving advice." shrugged Vera as she sat back up and pulled her notes back in front of her.

"Ah, I see." nodded Prof Harnwell as he sat the coffee mug in front of her. "I say we put in another half hour and go home. I have a feeling my wife will be at the front door wanting to make sure I haven't forgotten where I put my car keys."

"And Travis will be right there beside her with a change of clothes and a blanket because he'll think I've decided to stay the night at the office." Vera added. Prof Harnwell laughed goodnaturedly. "Hey, when I make the seating charts for the wedding, remind me to put Fred next to my biologist friend Ro will you. I think the pair would get along rather well." Vera said suddenly.

"You mean _if_ you get around to planning your wedding." teased Prof Harnwell.

Vera scowled at him. "You're a real riot you know that."

He didn't even have the good grace to hide his smile.

X X X

The sound of Skype's ringtone filtered through the apartment, interrupting the music that Vera was listening to. She looked up from the coursework she was currently trying to work her way through and looked up at the name on the screen. "The_Cool_Hamada" was displayed prominently but Vera highly doubted that the owner of that screen name was actually the one trying to get ahold of her. Rolling her eyes, she looked back at her coursework as she hit the answer button. "Forget your computer at the lab again?" she asked as she finished sentence she'd been writing.

"No," came the confused answer. Vera looked up and at the screen. She and Hiro Hamada blinked at one another in complete silence for a moment. He was sporting a rather large and rather purple bruise on his cheek. She shook off her curiosity though and forced herself to break the silence.

"Sorry, I was expecting Chiune." answered Vera as she twisted her watch around her wrist nervously. With the exception of the handful of early awkward conversations that Chiune had most definitely masterminded, the two of them rarely spoke to each other. Sure, Hiro popped his head into frame every so often while she and Chiune skyped. Other than that though Vera and Hiro really didn't talk a whole lot despite the fact that a good portion of the animosity between them had dissipated.

"I knew that jerk borrowed my computer without telling me!" Hiro said angrily as he crossed his arms over his chest. He glared at a nondescript spot on his computer as muttered under his breath, "Told me he didn't. Told me I was crazy. Should've known better."

"Hiro?" Vera called as she raised her eyebrow.

Hiro shook his head and forced himself to focus. "I need some advice."

Vera glanced at his bruise. "If they're bigger than you, you should probably run." Vera told him simply.

"What?" Hiro twisted his head to the side in confusion. Vera tapped her cheek as a hint. Hiro ran his hand down his bruised cheek and suddenly realized what she meant. "Wait! No! No, it isn't like that." he said quickly.

"You weren't punched in the face by some lowlife then?"

"No, some girl slapped me is all." Hiro admitted sheepishly. Vera could see the kid blushing even under the purple of the bruise. "That's why I'm calling you. I need some advice."

"If she's bigger than you, you should probably run." Vera repeated.

"Gee, thanks. That's so helpful." snorted Hiro, rolling his eyes.

"Alright, first of all," Vera started as she gave a sigh, "what did you do to piss her off?"

"Nothing!" Hiro burst out as he flailed his hands out to his side. "Why does everyone think that I did something to warrant getting slapped? You, Tadashi, Aunt Cass, Wasabi, Honey Lemon... "

Hiro probably would have read her the entire list had she not cut him off. "Hate to break it to you buddy but most girls don't slap people hard enough to give them a bruise for no reason. I'm sure your friends told you that when you talked to them. Speaking of which, why are you asking _me_ for advice instead of one of them? I'm sure Chiune is eager to help."

"Um, have you seen Tadashi recently? The guy didn't even realize that Abigail was interested in dating him until she spelled it out for him." snorted Hiro.

"Aunt Cass then, or Honey Lemon?"

"They won't stop giggling when I talk to them. Something about how sweet it is that I'm trying to talk to girls my own age and prom or something stupid like that."

"Wasabi?"

"Tries to tell me about the birds and the bees... as if Tadashi and Baymax hadn't covered that ages ago. Still awkward just in case you're wondering."

Vera pressed her lips together and hid her mouth to keep Hiro from realizing she was smiling at his expense. "I wasn't," her tone betrayed her amusement.

Hiro glared at her, "Before you ask, GoGo just shrugs and shakes her head. Baymax tries to download a database and Fred... I love Fred to death but I don't trust any of his advice on girls."

"Yeah, Fred doesn't strike me as the kind of guy to have solid dating advice." winced Vera as she nodded and thought back to some of her conversations with Fred. For some odd reason he skyped her about once a week. They were interesting conversations once she got past the weird look of "hero" admiration Fred always started off with. "So you thought I was the best person to call?"

"Well, I mean... you're, like, supposed to be getting married to Travis." Hiro explained.

"What do you mean _supposed_ to be getting married?" she demanded.

"Well you haven't gotten very far in planning said wedding but that's neither here nor there. I thought you'd be the best person to ask seeing as how you have the steadiest and healthiest relationship so..." Hiro told her. His voice dragged a little at the end though, like that wasn't the end of his thought.

Vera raised her eyebrow, "What else?"

"You're also a former Superhero... " explained Hiro as he nervously rubbed the back of his neck. "You dated Travis when you were still pretty active in the cape and mask scene right?"

"Mm-hmm," Vera nodded in acknowledgement. She had indeed been an active Superhero for much of the time she'd been dating Travis. Not nearly as active as she had been when she was in high school or undergrad but that was her own choice.

"So you know a lot about balancing herowork with a love life." Hiro added. Ah, so that was what he was really after.

"Aren't you getting a little ahead of yourself seeing as your Louis Lane apparently was offended enough to slap you Superman?" she asked him.

Hiro winced, "Please Vera. I really like this girl and I'm desperate."

Vera shook her head. Where to even begin?

"Alright kid, listen up because this the most important thing about dating while heroing." Vera said slowly. Hiro must have been dead serious because he leaned forward closer to the computer. "You probably have all those comic book and movie images in your head where some baddie is robbing the bank while the intrepid hero is on a date with his lady love and has to make some excuse to sprint away to foil the plan."

Hiro nodded vigorously, "Yeah, yeah. How do you do that?"

"You don't." Vera said simply. Hiro blinked in confusion.

"What?"

"Forget that entire scenario. When you're on a date, your hero alterego doesn't exist. You don't even think about that bank robbery downtown. You don't even consider leaving that date because she's gonna get tired of that really, really fast. You have an entire team to take care of problems while you're on a date. Let them handle it. Date night is date night."

"Oh...kay..." Hiro said slowly as his eyebrows furrowed together in thought.

"Trust me, it works regardless of Superhero or not. If there ever comes a time that you chose to share your alterego with her she'll appreciate the fact that you set aside time just for her. Might even consider it romantic."

Hiro's lips turned up in a mischievous smirk that was reminiscent of Chiune's, "Oh yeah? Did Travis think it was romantic?"

Vera glared at him. "He thought it was incredibly sexy that I could easily kick his ass."

Hiro disintegrated into snickers and giggles. "Explain to me how you got slapped but it still wasn't your fault?" Vera asked crisply.

Hiro stopped laughing abruptly.

"I swear to God, we were just working on some easy calculus problems and flirting when she just exploded. Everything was going really well until about halfway through when we got to calculation three." Hiro explained emphatically.

Vera groaned. Suddenly, she felt like she knew why Hiro had found himself with bruised cheek. "Did you happen to say that calculus was easy to this girl?"

"Yeah," he nodded as he raised an eyebrow curiously.

"You said she was your age? In high school I'm presuming?"

"Uh-huh,"

"Are you tutoring her for her ACTs or her SATs by any chance?"

"The ACT why?" responded Hiro.

"I just have a hunch is all." sighed Vera as she shook her head. "Listen I could give you all the advice about being a Superhero dating but it all comes to nothing if you don't actually have a date. When you go to ask this girl out again, take her flowers or something that you think she'll like. She might say no and that's alright. Just let it go and don't press it. There will be other girls. If you do get a date with her, or anyone, call me again and I'll see if I can dig up any more sage pieces of wisdom."

"Cool thanks Vera. You're awesome!" he smiled brightly at her.

"No problem." Vera replied, "Oh and Hiro one more thing."

Hiro paused in his reach for the disconnect button. "Yeah?"

"You should apologize to this girl. Most people don't think calculus is _easy_ and they definitely don't like to be reminded that they are struggling enough to need a tutor." Vera explained.

"Oh?" Hiro blinked in confusion before he finally had an epiphany. "OH! That's why she got angry with me! Thanks Vera. Talk to you later."

"I'm sure," Vera said rolling her eyes but Hiro had already disconnected. She pushed the button on her laptop to start her music up again before returning to her coursework. Vera gave a snort. "Supposed to be getting married. Little brat."

X X X

As the skype ringtone blared through her speakers, Vera clicked out of a few windows she was in to see who was calling her. Travis picked his head up off the other end of the couch to look at her curiously. The username "CJ_Preston" accompanied by a picture of Wasabi. Vera quirked an eyebrow. "Well, do you wanna bet who's calling me?" she asked Travis as he sat up.

Both Fred and Hiro had picked up calling her on a more regular basis. Chiune, of course, still called her but it was getting harder and harder to predict who was actually going to be on other end of the computer. "I'm gonna bet Fred. Spiderman just made the news again and he'll probably want to talk about it." Travis told her as he looked over her shoulder.

"Don't know, Hiro just had a date." Vera reminded him. "And Chiune been working on a new project recently."

"I picked, you have to pick." Travis told her as he poked her on the shoulder. The computer continued to chirp.

"I bet Chiune. Wasabi's never called me before." said Vera as she hit the accept call button.

"Quick! I need legal counsel!" yelled a frantic voice that definitely didn't belong to Chiune. Vera jumped back and winced at the shrill tone. How could a grown man even make that sound?

"Wasabi! Stop shrieking." Vera said as she rubbed her ears to try and clear the ringing in them. Well apparently she and Travis were both wrong. First time for everything she supposed. Travis had ducked out of frame to preserve politeness as he was currently full out covering his ears.

"This is a matter of grave importance." Wasabi continued to shriek despite her insistence not to. Vera supposed that it really was a matter of grave importance as Wasabi said. At least, she assumed so judging by the way he was flailing his arms above his head and in front of the computer screen.

Vera sat up a little straighter. "What is it?"

"It's horrible. It's a disaster. It could ruin me." ranted Wasabi in a nearly full on panic.

"What?" repeated Vera, a little louder this time. Okay, whatever it was that Wasabi was freaking out about it had to be pretty bad to ruffle his feathers. Thanks to years of personal experience, she could name just about every situation in herowork that would require immediate legal assistance. Outrageous property damage, injured civilians, dead Supervillains, dead _civilians_. Any one of those could potentially lead to Superhero needing help. Without being asked, Travis reached past her for her cell phone. Depending on what the situation was, she could get S.H.I.E.L.D. to send an agent out to San Fransokyo in about ten minutes if Wasabi, Chiune, Hiro, or any one else was in danger. If it was a legal issue, she could have a tried and proven lawyer at their side in thirty.

Wasabi stopped flailing but his eyes were still wide. Vera tried to school her face into a calm mask so she didn't make Wasabi any more upset than what he was. Wasabi pulled his computer closer to her. "Listen, if I tell you what's going on it counts as attorney-client privilege right?"

"Spit it out Wasabi!" snapped Vera.

"I accidentally stole money from a bank we were rescuing!" Wasabi said as he pulled on his dreadlocks in distraught.

"Wha..." Vera stared at him with a slack expression.

"There was a hostage situtation that we busted up and the bad guys had all the money in like five black backpacks. I got so caught up in the arrest that I completely blanked out and walked away with one by mistake. It looked exactly like my own bag so I just threw it my car." Wasabi spouted off at a speed that even Hiro and Chiune would have been impressed by. He kept going but Vera wasn't really paying attention anymore. She was busy laughing so hard that she was liable to fall off the sofa. "This isn't funny Vera! Stop laughing! I'm a criminal. They're probably looking for me right now as we speak. I'm going to be arrested and... Vera stop laughing!"

"I... I can't!" gasped Vera as she clutched her sides. Her eyes were watering.

"Vera!" Wasabi whined.

"It's funny." Vera insisted. She buried her head in her elbow on the sofa's arm. Travis stepped in to take hold of the situation.

"He's right Vera," he nodded grimly, "this is really serious. There's only one way to handle the situation."

Wasabi latched on to Travis's words, "What? What do I do? Tell me!"

"There's only one thing to do. Shave your head, get a facial tattoo, and run to Mexico." Travis told him with deadly seriousness. Vera let loose another shriek of laughter. Oh God, her sides hurt so much and why were her eyes watering so badly?

Wasabi squeaked, "A facial tattoo."

Travis nodded gravely. "Yes but only after you shave your head. You might even want to get a tattoo that goes all the way up your scalp and down your neck for optimal identity concealment."

"Mexico?" whimpered Wasabi as he ran his hands through his dreadlocks. His hands clenched around them and Vera thought for certain the poor guy was going to pull them out.

"I suggest that you use some of the money you accidentally took to smuggle yourself across the border." Travis continued as if he didn't even notice Wasabi going through a mental breakdown. Vera didn't think it was possible for Wasabi's eyes to be any wider.

"I can't breathe Travis." she panted as she beat her hand against the sofa's arm.

"I can't tell if you're being serious or not!" Wasabi's voice sounded more panicked than ever.

Vera finally managed to pull herself upright again. Travis was getting ready to deliver another "sage" piece of advice but Vera smacked him on the chest. "That's enough. I think you're going to give him a heart attack if you keep going."

Wasabi looked between her and Travis. Understanding, and therefore irritation, was quickly setting in. He narrowed his eyes at her and raised his finger, presumably to tell her off. Vera, however, was quicker. "Ignored everything he just said."

"I'm starting to get that..." Wasabi muttered darkly. Vera brushed it off.

"I'm going to assume you still have the money." she said, trying to keep from smiling. It was hard enough that she still had a stitch in her side.

"Of course I still have the money." he said, "What do I look like? Someone who would spend it?"

Vera held up her hand placatingly. "Wasabi, the situation isn't nearly as bad as you think it is. All you have to do is return the money, tell the police and the bank it was an accident, and apologize. Simple as that."

Wasabi stared at her for a moment in complete silent. The look said 'you have got to be kidding me.' Then in a flurry of sarcasm, he smacked his palm to his forehead. "Oh gee! Just _give_ the money back. No sweat! Why didn't I think of that? Oh wait! Because I'm a thief and the police are probably going to arrest me on the spot! That's why!" he snapped more in frustration than anything else.

"I'm being serious Wasabi." insisted Vera. "Listen, your mask gives you a lot of privileges. One of them is the undying love of society. It's the case of everyone loves a hero... literally. You've proven yourself a hero. I can almost guarantee you'd have to commit _murder_ before anyone would start to question you."

"You can't be serious," he said shaking his head.

"Actually she is." Travis assured him.

"Society will forgive you for a lot of things. If you take the money back to the police and explain that it was an accident, you should be okay."

Wasabi gave her a dubious look. Vera sighed. "Alright you don't believe me. Okay fine. One time I accidentally made off with an entire box full of toys that were supposed to go to local kids in need... at Christmas time no less."

As Wasabi's eyes went wide, Travis promptly started singing "You're a Mean One, Mr. Grinch." Vera spared enough time to turn and chuck a pillow at his face. Travis made an over dramatic 'oof' sound before shutting up. Vera rolled her eyes and looked back at the computer screen. "You stole toys at Christmas?" gasped Wasabi. "That's like...like,"

"The worst?" Vera supplied with a nod. "Tell me about it and it gets better. I lost them."

"You're a horrible person! No wonder you had to cut back your time in a mask."

"All I was trying to do was keep a couple of thieves from stealing one of the really expensive toys that had been donated. They started throwing things like toy cars, teddy bears, and Barbie dolls at me to try and keep me from chasing them. They threw enough stuff at me for, like, ten kids. I put the toys they lobbed at me off in some corner in the opposite building but by the time I went back to get them, I couldn't find them."

"You really suck." Wasabi told her.

"Oh trust me, I felt like crap and mind you I was in _high school_ at the time."

"So what did you do?"

"I did the only thing I could think of. I went out and bought a bunch of toys to replace the ones I'd lost plus enough extra for fifteen more kids. Mind you I was in _high school_. I had less than no money. When I brought them back to the donation center the people there were just so excited that _I_ , a Superhero and local golden girl, was donating toys. They didn't even bat an eyelash at my apology. In fact, they were more interested in having me pose for pictures to stuff in the Christmas cards for the kids."

"You never told me that part." Travis commented with an upraised eyebrow. "You _hate_ posing for pictures, let alone Superhero propaganda pictures."

"It was Christmas and the lady with the camera looked like my Grandma so what was I gonna do? Tell her no?"

"She's right. You never tell someone who looks like your Nana no." agreed Wasabi.

Vera regained her focus. "The point is, Wasabi, that so long as you try to make your mistakes right and ask forgiveness, no one is going to hold it against you. You may be a Superhero but you're human. You make mistakes. This was a relatively little one alright?"

"Alright." Wasabi said at length after a moment's worth of thought.

"You good now? You're not going to freak out?" Vera pressed.

"No, I think I'm okay." answered Wasabi.

"Awesome. No just go give back that money and you're all set." Vera smiled. "Have a good night Wasabi."

"Wait! Wait!" yelled Wasabi. Vera cringed but paused her mouse over the end call button. She looked at Wasabi expectantly. "If something goes wrong can you at least represent me in a court of law?"

Travis laughed which prompted Vera to throw the other pillow at him. He had to duck in order to keep from getting nailed in the side of the head. "I will have Prof Harnwell represent you because he's actually passed his bar exam. Okay?" Vera told Wasabi as she made a conscious effort not to roll her eyes.

"Thanks Vera. You rock my friend." Wasabi said with marked relief before signing off.

Vera twisted around on the couch. "Facial tattoo? Really Travis?" she repeated with a grin.

"So if I ask your mom is there any chance that I'll get to see those photos of awkward teenaged Vera all in Superhero costume and mask with a Santa hat on?" Travis asked as he came to hang over her shoulder. From her peripheral vision Vera could see the mischievous grin on his face.

Vera returned it with one of her own. "Only if you still want to get married."

"Just thought it be a good picture for the slideshow when we get around to planning the wedding reception." Travis told her. He pressed a kiss to her cheek before effectively dodging the swat that came his way.

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who read, reviewed, followed, and favorited!**

 **achmanno:** I'm so glad that you're enjoying the oneshots and that you loved _Scientist_. I'll be honest, it blows me away that there are people who aren't native English speakers reading my stories. I'm glad that my writing style has made it so many people from many countries can read and enjoy. I really like your prompt. I will add that to my list of ideas to tackle.

 **Amarin Rose:** Hiro tried very, very hard to get out of it. To the point where he created a bug that he didn't even want to fix lol. I need to write a oneshot with Tadashi, Mochi, and Aunt Cass. I imagine that Mochi, like any pet, definitely remembered Tadashi and missed him when he was gone. Pets do miss their people and I think they react accordingly when their people come home again.

 **RazzlePazzleDooDot:** I have honestly done a lot of thinking about how Hiro would tell Tadashi about that time he overrode Baymax's purpose and Tadashi's dream to try and murder Callaghan. At this point in my AU, Tadashi does NOT know about that. Hiro carries a lot of guilt over a lot of things and ordering Baymax to kill is definitely one of them. That is the reason why Hiro made Baymax's healthcare programming a part of his hard drive and constantly backs the system up. It's harder to override a hard drive than it is to pull out a chip. Hiro's guilt is one of the things the two of them will need to come to terms with.

 **Ember Neutron:** I think Baymax giving him the sex talk happened only a handful of times before Hiro finally had enough. It's quite possible that Baymax started in on it in front of Aunt Cass, GoGo, or Honey Lemon and Hiro "noped" out of it really, really quick. I will have to look into your fic rec. I love reads like that.

 **XXPay4XtraShippingsXX:** Thanks for your wonderful compliments. I'm so glad that it didn't seem as cliched as I thought it was lol. We won't be going too "dark" with the oneshots. It will be more like hurt/comfort fics and some good ole fashioned angst.

 **Guest (anon reviewer):** Yes, Tadashi sitting there and just listening to Baymax drone on and on with a defeated look in his eyes. Lol! That was probably my favorite part of that oneshot.


	4. Five Calls plus One part 2

**A/N:** And welcome back to part two of "Five Calls plus One!" Today we finish off the two parter with GoGo, Honey Lemon, and Vera's call to the entire gang. Just as a reminder, Vera is my original character from _Scientist_ who functions primarily as a sister type figure to Tadashi. Also please keep in mind that Vera calls Tadashi "Chiune" for plot reasons that are further elaborated on in the first chapter of _Scientist_. Please refer there for more details!

Also, I wanted to remind readers that Vera has PTSD. I, as a writer, do not so please, please, PLEASE forgive me if any of my depictions of PTSD or panic attacks are inaccurate. I will accept any and all constructive criticism.

* * *

 **Title:** Five times that Big Hero 6 called Vera, and one time she called them

Vera turned to look at her computer at the skype tone. Quite frankly it was a welcome distraction from the board she'd been staring at. Honestly, the case she was assisting on was infuriating and close to making her toss everything out the window. It would be good to listen to someone else's problems. It meant a break from figuring out the weak point in the defense from the multizillion dollar corporation the team was going up against.

The screen name read "2fast2catch." Vera hit the accept button. "Vera," she answered, sounding businesslike without intentionally doing so.

"Not even Vera's going to agree with you!" GoGo snapped over her shoulder as the back of her head filled the screen. "Watch this... Vera, Indiana Jones or Han Solo?"

"Wait... what?" Vera said. Two seconds in and she was already lost.

"Who would win in a fight? Indiana Jones or Han Solo." GoGo clarified her question. Not that it really helped a whole lot. Fred's head jumped into view for a split second before GoGo shoved him out of frame again. She kept her arm extended and Vera could only guess that GoGo was keeping Fred at bay.

"C'mon Vera! You know the answer in your soul!" Fred called out.

"Are you guys..." Vera didn't even bother finishing the thought. Judging by GoGo's face, yes, they were being dead serious. Vera stared between the two of them, blinking. Then she shrugged and gave it a thought. Obviously Harrison Ford was _not_ going to be the correct answer to this question. "Gonna have to go with Indy."

There was a loud and pitiful wail of distress from Fred. It was followed by a "thump" that Vera assumed meant that he'd collapsed on to the ground. Especially since GoGo no longer seemed preoccupied with keeping him from invading her space. A smug smile spread across GoGo's face. Apparently in this very serious argument, Vera had just taken GoGo's side.

GoGo twisted around and looked down at the ground, more proof that Fred had fallen, and grinned. "Told you Vera would agree with me." she told him.

"I've been betrayed!" moaned Fred.

Okay, he sounded so upset that Vera genuinely felt guilty. "I'm sorry but unless Solo had Leia by his side then there's no way he'd be able to outthink Indy." she said quickly by means of explanation.

"Han Solo is the epitome of action hero. Cool and level headed in the face of danger." Fred shot back defensively. Vera couldn't see him but she had talked to him enough to envision him jabbing his finger into the air for emphasis. Clearly, these two had been debating this for awhile.

"Who charged after a bunch of Stormtroopers with guns blazing, yelling like an idiot, only to run into reinforcements and have to charge back down the way he'd come." GoGo snapped back.

"There was also that wonderful, 'everyone's fine, we're fine...how are you' bit in the same twenty minute segment." added Vera.

"Thank God Leia was there to save _all_ of them otherwise the Vader and the Empire totally would have won." GoGo said. "Han Solo couldn't win against Indy because he doesn't have the brains."

"Indiana Jones is a college professor, holds a doctorate, routinely solves puzzles, and doesn't engage in sword fights when he has a gun. A man like that could run circles around Han Solo while coming up with a fool proof plan to keep him from shooting first." said Vera.

"Doctorate schmoctorate!" Fred exclaimed from over the top of GoGo's head.

"Don't let Chiune hear you say that." Vera warned. GoGo reached back and pushed Fred away before rolling her eyes.

"He'll sit you down and explain just how involved doctorate studies are and how they definitely shouldn't be called 'doctorate schmoctorate.'" GoGo informed him.

"Fine! Whatever!" grumbled Fred. The tops of his hands became visible as he threw them up into the air. He stuck his head back into frame and levelled an irate glare at Vera. "I'm going to ask someone who isn't obviously crazy! Someone who _won't_ stab me in the back. Goodbye Vera, I shall consider you my mortal enemy from now on."

Fred disappeared from the computer screen. She and GoGo looked at each other with similar looks of amusement until a door closed on GoGo's side of the computer. "Mortal enemy? I'll have to call my old archnemesis and let him know he's been replaced." Vera snickered.

"It won't take up a lot of your time. Trust me." GoGo assured her. There was a huge grin on her face. Then she shook her head. "Sorry if we interrupted you while you were doing something important. Fred just wouldn't let it go and it was driving me crazy."

Vera turned to glare at her board behind her. "Trust me, I probably needed the distraction." she sighed.

"Case not going so well?" surmised GoGo.

"No," Vera said as she leaned back in her chair. "Prof Harnwell is representing a client that was cheated out of a lot of money by a big corporation. Said corporation's defense seems pretty air tight at the moment. I'm _trying_ to poke holes in it."

"How long have you stared at it?"

"Longer than I should have. I probably should've taken a break ages ago. Your call came at an excellent time."

"Well I'm glad that Fred's lunacy was more productive for you than it was for me." GoGo told her with a little smile.

"Do I even want to know _how_ you got into an argument over that?" Vera asked.

"I didn't even care all that much about it until Fred started badgering me about it all and kept carrying on."

"Then it became more about proving your own point just to shut him up?"

"Well, what else are friends for?" shrugged GoGo.

Vera smiled, "Good point."

"You do realize that we are going to have a five page paper that is extensively researched and in depth analysis of Han Solo vs. Indiana Jones in about a week right?"

"I'll read it just as soon I'm done trying to bring down a particular corporation for scamming innocent people." Vera replied. She pinched the bridge of her nose to relieve stress as she thought about the case. She silently willed some sort of flaw or break to pop up when she finally did return her attention to it. It wasn't the first time she'd done it either.

"Do you ever just miss the days where you could go in and bash a few heads together for the information you need?" GoGo questioned.

"Oh it was definitely easier than this some days. Getting the bad guys is completely different from putting them away though so it isn't really a fair comparison."

"I'll stick to getting the bad guys if it's all the same to you."

"That's fine," nodded Vera. "You catch them and I'll make sure they stay caught... hopefully."

"I'm sure you will." GoGo assured her. "I think you need to take an extended lunch break or something though before you go back to your case."

"That's what I'm thinking."

"Maybe meet up with Travis or something. You can actually work on planning your wedding for a change." GoGo said it in an offhanded way but the look on her face made it clear that she was definitely teasing her. Vera narrowed her eyes but GoGo only smiled wider.

"Maybe I will." Vera told her.

"It will be a good change for the time being."

"Yeah, I know. I..." Vera started however the phone ringing on GoGo's side of the conversation cut her off. She quirked her eyebrow up at the crooning showtune that was GoGo's ringtone. Something told her that had not been the ringtone GoGo had chosen for herself. "Let me guess, Hiro got a hold of your phone?"

GoGo snorted as she picked up the phone and read the text message. "Yeah, for like the fifth time. I thought I'd finally made a passcode the little dork couldn't break."

"He's a supergenius. I'd imagine there isn't much he can't break... what is it?" Vera noticed as GoGo's creased into deep furrows.

"Kid genius says there's something going on downtown. Sorry. I don't mean to be rude but,"

Vera held her hand up, "You gotta go. I get it. Trust me. Good luck."

"Thanks, you too." GoGo told her. Vera reached for her mouse but was stopped. "Oh! And thanks for helping me shut Fred up."

"Glad to be of service." Vera laughed. GoGo disconnected.

Vera twisted in her seat and looked back at the board. A few minutes talking to GoGo hadn't given her anywheres near enough of a break. She gave a sigh and shook her head. Vera had to admit that GoGo had made a good suggestion. Travis would probably be thrilled to get a lunch date. Planning her wedding though was another problem that she didn't want to solve at the moment either.

X X X

Vera was elbows deep in soapsuds, trying to do dishes when skype started going off on her computer. She cursed under her breath and twisted around. So much for trying to get some housework done before Travis got home. Maybe whoever was calling wouldn't take long. The skype name "chemgirl" barely registered in Vera's mind as she took the call.

"Vera!" cried the happy, chipper voice of Honey Lemon. Vera visibly jumped at the unexpected tone.

"Hey Honey Lemon," Vera replied with a weak smile once she got her heart rate back under control. "What can I do for you?"

"Well I was talking to Tadashi and he mentioned to me that you were going to have a destination wedding here in San Fransokyo and I just wanted to tell you that I love, love, _love_ the idea!" Honey Lemon exclaimed.

Vera just barely kept the smile on her face but felt like choking on her internal grimace. She went to twist her watch around her wrist but then remembered that she'd taken it off to do dishes. "I didn't exactly tell Chiune I was doing a destination wedding." Vera laughed nervously.

"But Tadashi said…" Honey Lemon started. Her eyebrow was raised and she was clearly confused.

"Chiune was joking with me and _thought_ he was being funny when he suggested that." sighed Vera.

"Oh, I see." she nodded thoughtfully. "Though what if you _were_ to do a destination wedding to San Fransokyo. There's a lot of really pretty places. The Golden Gate Park, the beach, the tea gardens."

Vera couldn't help it. She gave a groan. "Listen, Honey Lemon, can we talk about something else please. Anything else."

"Are you getting cold feet?"

"No it isn't that. It's just that…" Vera's voice trailed off as she tried to find the words. "It's just that planning the wedding is overwhelming and any time I think about it, I start to think that Las Vegas and a drive through chapel would be just fine."

"Have you thought about some of just the more big picture details? You know like the date and how many people you want to invite? A budget?" Honey Lemon asked her with genuine interest. "It might seem a little more doable if you focus on one or two at a time."

"Travis and I know that we want the wedding to be in the fall but beyond that we've got nothing." Vera explained.

"That's better than nothing." Honey Lemon told her optimistically. Vera wished that she could agree. Honey Lemon made some sort of sound that was a cross between a gasp and a yell that made Vera nearly jump out of her chair in shock. "Hey! Why don't _I_ plan your wedding!"

"You, uh, really don't have to do that." Vera assured her quickly as she raised her hands. "I know you're a busy person between herowork and being an ace chemist and all that."

"No, no! Seriously! Let me help you plan your wedding. Maybe if you have someone to help you figure out the details it won't be so overwhelming for you."

"Honey Lemon..." Vera started. Then she stopped. There was no real word to describe the look on Honey Lemon's face. It went beyond typical excitement. Somehow Vera didn't think she could say no and at that point she wasn't sure she really wanted to say no. Travis had proposed to her nearly four months ago and she still hadn't made any sort of headway with getting a wedding together. Though Travis hadn't shown any signs of irritation or aggravation at Vera dragging her feet, she didn't want to push her luck. Especially since she was certain that she had to be coming close to her fill of luck when it came to Travis. "Alright. That would really help." she agreed.

Honey Lemon clapped her hands together. "Excelente! Next order of business then. How _do_ you feel about getting married here in San Fransokyo? There are lots of people here who could give us discounts on flowers, catering, cakes, and renting out things because we know Aunt Cass and you're Tadashi's friend."

"I'll talk to Travis and see what he thinks. I honestly don't see him minding though. I think the idea of San Fransokyo is really appealing to him. He keeps talking about taking a vacation out there so I can see him definitely being interested in getting married out there."

Honey Lemon disappeared out of sight for a moment and when she popped back into frame she had a giant pink and brown purse sitting in her lap. As she rummaged through it she gave a nod and said, "Let me know as soon as you can because then I can start looking up venues and dates and whatnot. Aha!"

She pulled out a sparkly pink notebook and purple pen with a pom-pom on its end. Like a diligent wedding planner, Honey Lemon began to jot down things on the paper. "Alright so, can I ask about your budget?"

"Nothing extravagant. I think my Dad has something put away for me and I've got at least a few years worth of 'danger pay' I can cash in on from working at S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe, say, twenty thousand?" Vera grimaced at the number but Honey Lemon took it in stride and wrote it down on her paper.

"The biggest factor in keeping to a budget is going to be your guest list. Any idea of how many people you'll want to invite?"

Vera sighed, "If I was a normal person and didn't have to worry about offending anyone I would say just a few close friends and family but seeing as how Travis has a weird hero crush on Captain Steve Rogers that means the entirety of the Avengers and S.H.I.E.L.D. is going to have to be invited."

Honey Lemon looked up abruptly. Her eyebrows shot up and over her glasses. "You know the Avengers and you're going to invite them to your wedding!" she repeated as her jaw fell open.

"Yes," groaned Vera as she pressed her fingers to the side of her head. She was already getting a headache just by thinking about it. "You can't just invite Captain America. Oh no! The entire gang has to be there otherwise there will be no living it down for the next century. If Thor doesn't get invited then he'll stare me down at gatherings like some giant Asgardian puppy who got left out in the rain and ask me why he wasn't able to partake in my 'joyous moment'. Leave Dr. Banner out and he feels like you aren't inviting him because he thinks you're afraid he'll Hulk smash the reception. Barton and Romanoff will track me down and screw with the wedding. I can foresee certain details for the ceremony being changed. A swan ice sculpture turned into Hawkeye with a cupid's bow. Table centerpieces being spider themed. I don't want to give them an opportunity to test their creativity. And as for Stark! Don't even get me _started_ on Stark. If I don't invite Tony Stark then he'll just show up anyways and tell everyone at the reception in the loudest, most obnoxious way possible that his invitation was lost in the mail and he was just glad that Piper tipped him off. Oh my God! My reception is going to be a mess! No open bar. I can't afford that! Not when Steven 'I can't get drunk thanks to my Supersoldier serum' Rogers thinks it's funny to out drink both Thor and Stark like it's an olympic competition."

"Vera, Vera calm down." Honey Lemon cut through her panicked thoughts. Vera snapped out of it just in time too because she was starting to see eloping as a viable option again. "It will be okay. I promise. One thing at a time and we'll deal with your Superhero colleagues antics later. Worst comes to worst, we'll throw Freddy at them. He'll make a good buffer anyways."

Vera took a deep breath in through her nose and then expelled it between her lips. She did it a couple of times and felt her heart rate returning to normal. Honey Lemon waited patiently without making it look like she was waiting. "Fred will probably die of sheer excitement." Vera finally managed.

"He'll die happy at least." Honey Lemon laughed. "Any ideas about the wedding party? Travis's groomsmen and your bridesmaids?"

"Travis has a bunch of his Air Force buddies that he's asked to be groomsmen and the stinking rat already asked Chiune to be his best man so my side of the processional is looking a little sparse." admitted Vera.

"How sparse?"

"Um, including Chiune, Travis has five. I have two..."

"Two?" repeated Honey Lemon.

Vera blushed in embarrassment, "Yeah... my two best friends from high school. I was going to ask Chiune to be on my side of the processional but my darling gnat of a fiance got to him first."

Honey Lemon bit her lip, probably to keep from laughing at her. "You know you need to find at least a couple more to even it out, right?"

"Yeah," sighed Vera. She massaged the side of her head again. "I'm probably going to skip the whole maid of honor thing though because I literally wouldn't be able to chose between my two friends. It would be impossible."

"Any idea on who you might ask to finish filling out your processional? Maybe one or two of your friends from law school or your internship?" suggested Honey Lemon.

"There's really only one person I'm close enough to in school to ask so that will still leave me with two open slots for bridesmaids."

"We've got time. We'll figure it out." Honey Lemon said as she waved her hand through the air dismissively. She set to work writing something down in her notebook again. That's when Vera got an idea.

"Unless you and GoGo want to be my bridesmaids." Vera offered. Honey Lemon looked up abruptly in shock. She stared, blinking and not saying anything. Vera threw her hands up quickly. "I mean if you two don't want to, you don't have to. I know I don't know you all that well but Chiune thinks pretty highly of you two and you guys have been so nice to me. I guess what I'm trying to say is that if you wanted to be in the wedding, I wouldn't mind at all. Not because I have a couple open spaces that you and GoGo can conveniently fill or anything but..."

"Really!" gasped Honey Lemon, completely cutting Vera off mid-ramble. A bright smile broke across her face. "You want GoGo and I to be in your wedding?"

"Only if you want to." Vera said.

"Well I, for one, would _love_ to be in your wedding! You should touch base with GoGo and ask her. I think she'd like it just as much! You are so sweet Vera! Travis is so lucky to have you!" Honey Lemon was practically clapping her hands in delight.

Something twisted in her chest. Lucky. Yeah, sure. Vera gave a weak smile but Honey Lemon didn't seem to notice it or maybe it looked stronger than Vera thought it was.

There was a click as the lock on the front door of Vera's apartment opened. She looked up from her laptop. Travis threw his bags down on the ground tiredly before looking up and giving her a little wave. Vera waved back. "Is that Travis?" asked Honey Lemon.

"Yeah, he just got home." Vera replied.

"In that case I should probably let you go then. I'll do some researching and you talk to Travis about San Fransokyo alright. We can touch base later on. Are you free tomorrow evening around seven your time?"

"Sure. That sounds good."

"Alright, I'll skype you then and we can tackle a few more details okay?"

"Talk to you then I suppose." Vera agreed.

"Adios!" Honey Lemon told her before signing off.

Travis made his way over to the table. "Was that Honey Lemon?"

"Yeah." she nodded.

"What did she want? She hasn't ever called you before right."

"No she hasn't but there's a first time for everything right? Besides, it appears as though I just hired her as our wedding planner."

Travis sighed in relief, "Thank God. I didn't even know where to begin planning this wedding."

Vera laughed. "You and me both Travis. You and me both."

Travis came around the side of the table. His hands brushed over her shoulders lightly before he bent over to kiss her on the side of her head. Vera closed her eyes and leaned against his face. Honey Lemon had been wrong. Travis wasn't lucky to have Vera. _She_ was lucky to have him.

X X X

She couldn't breath. Her throat was swelling shut as she stood in the kitchen. The edge of her vision was going black giving her a terrifying tunnel vision of the back of the chair she was hanging on to for dear life. She could feel the blood rushing to her head, coursing and pulsing through her ears. She felt like she was going to die. But that was the cruel trick...

Vera was physically fine. It was a panic attack. She wasn't going to die. Or at least that what she tried telling herself as she tried to keep herself from collapsing on to the ground. It wasn't working at all. Her breath was coming the short, labored gasps rather than the long, even breaths that her therapist had taught her how to take. It just wasn't happening. She knew what she had to do. She just couldn't _do_ it! And there was no one home to help her out. Travis would be home in a half hour.

Another wave of panic crashed against her, forcing its way down her throat and threatening to drown her. She choked on her own hyperventilating breath. Travis couldn't see her like this! He couldn't. Not when she was in a full blown panic attack. Travis couldn't _ever_ see her like this!

She needed to calm down before he got home. She needed Chiune.

Vera didn't remember moving to the coffee table in the living room. She didn't remember sinking down on the ground and opening the lid. She _did_ vaguely remember opening skype and dialling the last call she'd got. The next thing she clearly remembered was the wrong person answering her skype call. "Hola Vera... ay Dios mio! What's wrong?" Honey Lemon demanded urgently as she leaned in closer to her computer screen.

Shit! Vera hadn't called Chiune last. She'd called Honey Lemon because they'd been disconnected in the middle of one of their wedding planning sessions.

"What happened?" asked Fred as he threw his head into frame. Vera's heart clenched. It wasn't just Honey Lemon. Oh no. As Honey Lemon pushed the computer screen away from herself, the entirety of the human members Big Hero 6 came into view. Fred, GoGo, Wasabi, Honey Lemon, and Hiro were all now witness to her in one of her ugliest moments. That was just great! Simply fantastic!

"Sorry," she managed to choke out in between ragged breaths. "Wrong person."

She reached for the end call button. "Wait! Vera!" GoGo called out. "Don't hang up."

"Talk to us." echoed Wasabi.

"What's wrong Hero girl?" Fred repeated.

Hiro jumped in front of the computer screen. "You're having a panic attack. You called to talk to Tadashi." he said with absolute certainty.

She was only able to nod silently. She'd used up all her energy and breath.

"It's alright Vera just ca..." Wasabi started before he suddenly stopped short and reconsidered his words. "Just focus on us. Okay."

Nice save. A part of Vera was certain that she would've taken off his head had he told her to "just calm down." As if she hadn't already tried that.

"Match my breathing." Hiro commanded her a cool level of confidence that she'd forgotten that any seventeen year old kid could have. Maybe it was the way he said it. Maybe it was the fact that he looked so much like his brother, that he sounded so much like him. It didn't much matter though because Vera found herself instantly listening to him. Hiro slowed his own breathing down, albeit a bit overdramatically, and kept it an even tempo for her to follow.

It was harder and longer than having someone physically with her. Usually Chiune pressed her head against his chest to block out outside sound and let her feel him breathing. Hiro was on the other side of the country but Vera fought to match her breath up with his as best she could. She kept her eyes glued on his rising and falling chest and, without thinking about it, put her hand on her own chest. Slowly, she felt her breathing even out and her heart rate slow to a much healthier level.

"Good Vera. That's really good!" Honey Lemon told her encouragingly but with a calm tone of voice instead of her usual chipper one. That was when Vera realized that there was sound of one of her favorite classical pieces was coming through her computer speakers, slightly distorted. Honey Lemon pulled her phone away from her computer when the song ended and then started another soothing song on it before pressing it back to the computer. For one brief moment, Vera wondered how Honey Lemon knew her favorite songs but then she remembered talking about them for the wedding reception.

"Grab a blanket." Wasabi told her. "You look like you're still shaking."

Vera looked behind her and grabbed the plush throw that she and Travis kept on the couch. Wasabi was right. She was shaking. Part of it was her anxiety but a lot of it was also the fact that she was really cold after panic attacks.

For the most part they all sat quietly with her. The noise outside filtered away and all she could really hear was the hum of her computer, the muffled sounds of Chiune's friends on the other end, and the distorted classical music from Honey Lemon's phone. Vera wrapped the blanket around her shoulders tighter. "I'm sorry," she mumbled.

"Don't be." GoGo told her. "We're just glad we could help. Do you want to talk about what triggered your panic attack?"

"Not particularly. It was something stupid anyways." Vera said. She tried hard not to think to terribly hard about the magazine she'd been flipping through when she'd had her panic attack. She made a mental note to have Travis throw it away when he got home. Vera bit back a groan. Travis was definitely going to be home soon. She didn't want him to find her like this, crumpled on the ground and underneath a blanket like a pile of trash.

"I highly doubt it was stupid." insisted GoGo. "We won't push you. You don't have to talk about anything you don't feel comfortable with."

"Travis isn't home is he. That's why you were trying to get ahold of Tadashi wasn't it?" Fred asked.

"No, Travis isn't here thank God for that." she sighed. Vera rested her chin on her knees. She was vaguely aware of the strange stares she got from everyone.

Wasabi cleared his throat, "Shouldn't it be the other way around Vera?"

Vera couldn't help the derisive, bitter snort that escaped her. "As if I'd ever want Travis to have to deal with _that_. He doesn't deserve to have to deal with that."

"You can't honestly believe that?" Hiro told her with a raised eyebrow. Vera bristled.

"Yes, I do mean that. I never want him to see me like that. It isn't fair to him." she said more fiercely than she'd meant to.

"Vera, you two are getting married." Honey Lemon reminded her gently. Vera's heart clenched again as another twinge of anxiety rose up in her chest. It wasn't like she could forget about that little detail.

"Yeah. We know you don't like it but Travis is gonna see you have moments like this in the future." Wasabi pointed out. Fred and Hiro were nodding enthusiastically in agreement with Honey Lemon and Wasabi. GoGo was giving Vera a reassuring smile. They were being perfectly reasonable. After all her hard work to keep him from seeing her big breakdowns, Travis would most definitely see them once they were married. It was just bound to happen. It was a miracle that it hadn't happened yet. Something hard, heavy, and cold sank in Vera's chest. Travis couldn't ever see that.

"I have to call off the wedding." she said quietly. Unfortunately it was still loud enough for everyone else on the other side of her computer to hear.

"What!"

"No!"

"Vera why would you do that?"

A chorus of protests hit her in rapid fire and loudly. Vera shook her head. "I have to. I can't marry him." she explained, chest hurting as she said the words.

"I don't think this is the way to go about this Hero girl." Fred replied critically.

"I agree with Fred." Hiro added in quickly. "Tadashi would too."

Hiro was right, of course. He knew his brother even better than she did. Chiune wouldn't agree that breaking off the wedding was the right thing. Hell, it had been Chiune that had convinced her to stay with Travis after her rescue from Hydra. He hadn't understood. None of them understood. "None of you get it." Vera insisted. "I should've broken up with Travis ages ago. After I found out that I was so screwed up in the head! It was a mistake to even say yes to marry him in the first place. I should've never lead him on like that."

"Don't cry Vera." Honey Lemon told her soothingly. Hot tears were streaking down Vera's face. She hadn't realized she was crying until Honey Lemon had said something. Vera scrubbed at her cheeks with the blanket.

Wasabi didn't give her a chance to respond. "Travis has stood by you this entire time while you've learned to cope with your PTSD."

"The guy totally loves you." Fred tacked on with a self-assured and confident nod that only he could have. Vera glared at him.

"He's right, you know." agreed Hiro.

"And that's why I have to break up with him. I don't deserve him." she told them emphatically. "He's smart and funny and kind and supportive. He's so much better than me. I don't deserve him at all. Travis should be with someone that isn't a complete trainwreck like me."

Honey Lemon gasped, "You aren't a trainwreck Vera. You have your issues. We all do."

"You do deserve him." Hiro snapped. Vera drew back slightly in surprise. She wasn't the only one. Honey Lemon, Fred, and Wasabi all looked at him like he'd grown a second head. GoGo placed a hand on his shoulder. There was a guarded look on her face. Hiro ignored them and continued, "I don't know you very well but I don't think there's anyone in the world who's more deserving than you. You had every reason not to like me, to think of me as some petulant brat, after how I treated you when Tadashi came home. But you didn't."

"You're smart and resourceful." Fred chipped in.

"Down to Earth and a good person to blow off steam to." GoGo replied.

"Friendly and really fun to talk to." Honey Lemon reminded her.

"Caring and compassionate." Wasabi put in.

"You took care of my brother when he needed someone. You were there for him when he had absolutely no clue who he was." Hiro finished off quietly, and gentler this time. "You're not screwed up in the head. Vera, I don't think you realize just how strong you are."

"I remember how strong I used to be." Images of the cool, confident Superheroine she once was flashed in her mind. The S.H.I.E.L.D. agent that could infiltrate and save hundreds of lives was there too, before she'd gotten ahead of herself and ended up captured by Hydra. The law student she was now was just as prevalent in her head. Finding criminals and busting them was great but at the end of the day she cared more about their victims.

"You still are." GoGo assured her. She pushed her way into the center of the group so that she was the focus of the camera. "Listen, Vera, if you still want to call the wedding off then we won't stop you. I... we just think that you need to give yourself a little more credit. None of us think you're screwed up in the head and Travis doesn't either. We aren't saying it's going to be easy, but breaking up with Travis would probably be harder."

"Do you love him?" Hiro questioned.

"More than anything." she answered. Their reasoning was seeping into her head. There was also a calmness that settled over her. It felt weird but the calmness that came after a panic attack was always like that. It was so much better than the choking chaos though. Vera exhaled, finally feeling like she was able to breath freely for the first time all afternoon. "I won't call off the wedding."

Hiro, GoGo, Honey Lemon, Fred, and Wasabi all smiled at her on the other end of the computer. "Good!"

"Awesome!"

"Fantastico!"

Vera wiped her face one more time. "You guys are _almost_ as good as Chiune at this calming, reassuring stuff." she teased lightly.

Hiro snorted, "Yeah, well, we can't all be giant nerds like him."

"Babe! I got pizza!" Travis yelled like an overexcited ten year old as the door swung open. Vera jumped a little as she peered around the bottom of the couch. A smile crept on to her face. She turned back to the computer screen.

"Thanks guys. I'll talk to you later." she told them with a wave. There was a brief chatter of 'goodbyes' before Vera hit the end call button.

"Vera?" Travis called as he looked down at her. His face changed instantly when he saw her drained, pale look on her face, the blanket around her shoulders, and the lingering remnants of tears. "What can I do?" he asked her urgently as he reached out to her.

Vera rose to her feet. He was around the side of the couch in an instant. She wrapped her arms around his waist. "Just hold me for awhile." she murmured into his chest.

He did.

* * *

 **Sneak Peek at Next Week's Oneshot:**  
Next week we switch gears and point of view again. Something a little more lighthearted and fun from Hiro's point of view. Also, a surprise (albeit small) cameo from an Avengers team member. Hint, it isn't Coulson.

 **"Inspection"**

Hiro raised his eyebrow, "I thought it wasn't a big deal that we came to your lab?"

"Not when my boss has sent someone to inspect me and the lab." Tadashi said distractedly as he fumbled with his lab coat.

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited!**

 **Tony18:** Wasabi's part was, hands down, my favorite section of this entire twoshot for a couple different reasons. Obviously winding Wasabi up was the primary one. I really couldn't resist. Vera and Hiro are still kind of awkward around each other but they definitely get along better. A lot better. As far as the oneshot with Mochi and Aunt Cass, I will definitely be tackling that and probably soon.

 **XXPay4XtraShippingsXX:** I love experimenting with the characters too. That's half the fun of fanfiction. I loved playing around with Vera's relationship with each member of BH6 and exploring how they all regard one another. These little oneshots are just as much fun to write for me lol.

 **Amarin Rose:** The whole teasing Vera about the wedding thing started off as a running gag I wanted to be in each interaction. And then I decided to make it something more. I wanted to see exactly why Vera was having so much trouble planning her wedding, both consciously and subconsciously. Your Christmas headcanon about the homeless kids finding the toys, I like it. It is canon now!

 **Ember Neutron:** Thanks for the fic rec!

 **bukalay:** I've been putting a lot of thought into how Tadashi and Hiro would handle the microbots. I think you can expect to see that oneshot relatively soon... like week after next I think. I'm trying to space the angst out so it doesn't feel like every chapter is like being hit with a bag of bricks.

 **1248:** I had the facial tattoo idea hit me literally out of the blue. I literally rewrote half the section just to incorporate it. That and Travis ended up being a giant goofy nitwit.

 **arashikageriverflower:** All I can say is poor Wasabi. I was not nice to him. It was too much fun. I think that was the most "in character" moment I've ever done with any character in Big Hero 6.


	5. Inspection

**A/N:** Not much to say other than good think decided that it actually wanted to work. It was getting frustrating being unable to log into my account

 **Title:** Inspection  
 **Summary:** Hiro thinks that Tadashi's frantic behavior at his fancy S.H.I.E.L.D. laboratory is pretty funny... until he learns that Tadashi is being inspected by his bosses. Maybe he shouldn't have followed Tadashi to his lab, made himself at home, _and_ told all their friends where to find it. Includes a special cameo from an Avenger's team member!

Also, if you liked what you read, drop me a review. I don't know how many of these oneshots I'll do but I figure so long as I have ideas and people enjoy them, I'll keep writing. Thanks!

* * *

Hiro watched and listened as Tadashi let swear after swear loose under his breath. "Swear jar!" he said gleefully.

Tadashi didn't even pause as he turned around to throw a death glare at Hiro. His reward was to promptly walk right into a corner of a work table and dump a pile of papers to the ground. Tadashi groaned and immediately dropped to his hands and knees to pick them up. "Not the time Hiro." he told him with distinct frustration.

"Geez, what's eating you nii-chan?" Hiro asked as he leaned up against a counter at the far end of the room. They were in Tadashi's so called 'super top secret' S.H.I.E.L.D. lab in downtown San Fransokyo. For some reason, Hiro had wandered in that morning and found his brother in a mild state of panic and nerves. It was kind of funny to watch but at this point it was getting a little old. And worrisome.

"You shouldn't be here. I already told you that when you got here." Tadashi pointed out as he meticulously set his papers back on the worktable with a preciseness that would have made Wasabi jealous.

"Yeah but I'm always here and if you really didn't want me here, you'd have given me the boot already." Hiro reminded Tadashi.

It was true enough. Tadashi's 'super top secret' lab hadn't stayed super top secret for very long after he'd gotten it. It had taken Hiro all of one afternoon of boredom and curiosity to follow Tadashi right to it. It had taken all of, like, ten minutes to bypass security and hack his way into the 'ultra secure' government building. Then it had taken less than two for Hiro to blow his stealth mode and reveal that he was there to Tadashi. It hadn't been his fault though! Tadashi's lab was amazing. So much so that it dwarfed his lab at SFIT and rivalled his friends' labs at Krei Tech. Hiro hadn't even been able to scrape his jaw up off the ground long enough to point and laugh at Tadashi's stunned expression. "Besides, I remember there was a time that you used to beg me to come hang out with you at your lab." Hiro threw a smirk at his brother.

"And usually I _wouldn't_ mind but they just sprang an inspection on me this morning." explained Tadashi as he crossed to the other side of the room to double check some files on his computer.

"Inspection?" Hiro repeated in confusion.

"Yes, one of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s top scientists is going to be here any minute to look through my lab. You, as a civilian, shouldn't be here. You haven't heard from anyone else have you? Is anyone else planning an impromptu visit? Honey Lemon? Wasabi? GoGo? Fred?" Tadashi asked.

It had taken less than thirty minutes into one of Big Hero 6's planning sessions for Hiro to break down and start gushing about Tadashi's lab. It had taken even less time for his friends to call and ask Tadashi to show them around the big, state of the art lab. All in all, it was less than a week after Tadashi received his lab that Hiro and his friends had pretty much established a revolving door policy. Heck, Hiro was just surprised that Fred hadn't moved his recliner chair into Tadashi's lab. Even Aunt Cass was known to drop by with cookies or other treats for Tadashi and his coworkers.

Hiro raised his eyebrow, "I thought it wasn't a big deal that we came to your lab?"

"Not when my boss has sent someone to inspect me and the lab." Tadashi said distractedly as he fumbled with his lab coat. He got it half way on before he paused, stared at it, pulled it off once more, and threw it over a chair.

"Why didn't you tell me that I was going to get you in trouble?" Hiro demanded as a horrible feeling settled into his chest. "Are you being inspected because of me? Because I told everyone and had you invite them here? Is this my fault?"

Tadashi stopped short, midstride towards whatever it was he'd been going towards. He whipped around to face Hiro. There was a look of wide eyed panic on his face. "Wait! No! That's not what I meant by that." Tadashi said quickly as he all but sprinted across the room to reassure Hiro. "It's just that…"

Whatever Tadashi had been about to say was cut off by a sharp rap on the plexiglass window that separated the lab from the hallway. Both Hiro and Tadashi turned to look. The S.H.I.E.L.D. inspector was an older, unprepossessing guy with dark curling hair. "Mr. Tadashi Hamada." he said as he stepped into the lab.

Tadashi immediately shot to attention. He looked between Hiro and the other guy nervously before darting over to the inspector. "Welcome... uh sir. You're a bit..." Tadashi paused an looked at the clock and then winced, "Right on time. Nevermind I was wrong."

"You forgot I was coming?" the other guy said, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"You people just dropped this on him today." Hiro snapped in defense of Tadashi seeing as how it was clear he wasn't about to speak up for himself.

Tadashi went pale as he turned to look at him. He shook his head and made a slicing motion across his neck. The universal sign for 'cut it out.' Hiro shut his mouth immediately. If his brother was in trouble because of him then he definitely didn't need to make it any worse. The older guy looked at Hiro with marked curiosity. "You must be Hiro Hamada then." he said, not unkindly, before turning back to Tadashi. His eyebrow was raised. "When was the last time you checked your email Tadashi?"

"Uh..." was Tadashi oh so eloquent response.

"You haven't have you?" sighed the older man.

Tadashi laughed a little under his breath and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly, "I've been on a work binge."

"Oh yes," the older guy smiled slightly. "I know how those go. Been on some not so fun ones myself."

Hiro looked over the inspector critically. There was no way that guy could be a scientist. He dressed like he would be more comfortable at a PTA function than in a lab. Slightly too large sweaters paired with dress slacks did not scream scientist. Then again, Honey Lemon adored wearing her longish sweaters to the lab sometimes. Sent Wasabi into a fit about lab safety every time but hey, whatever.

The S.H.I.E.L.D. inspector made his way to the first counter on the side of Tadashi's lab. It was amazing. He was completely ignoring the fact that Hiro was even there at the moment. Maybe it was only because Hiro wasn't giving him a reason to be noticed. Hopefully if he just stayed quiet enough, Tadashi wouldn't be in too much trouble by the end of the inspection. "This inspection is just a routine check in. New lab space, new facility. We're just making sure that you're settling in alright and that all your projects are on track." the older man told Tadashi as he waved his hand dismissively.

It was almost kind of weird how soft spoken the guy was. Tadashi nodded but his expression was still clearly more than a bit anxious. The other man reached out and patted his shoulder lightly before shifting his clipboard in front of him. "Let's get started shall we? Let me see what you've been working on. Coulson told me something about a search and rescue robot?"

Tadashi blinked. "Oh, uh, yeah. My notes are over here and my simulations are on the table over there."

Hiro watched as Tadashi zipped across the room to provide the man with the documents. It was almost comical just how organized he was. No wonder Hiro's professors always looked at him with slight irritation when they had to pester him for his research notes. Tadashi had spoiled them by being both a genius and organized. He had no clue how his brother managed it. "How's it coming along?" asked the inspector as he flipped through a few of the simulation reports and made a note or two on his clipboard.

"I had a few problems with the sims but a friend of mine helped me out." replied Tadashi. He couldn't quite keep the proud tone out of his voice. Then his eyes went all wide and buggy looking as if Tadashi realized he'd made a mistake. Hiro winced. GoGo had helped Tadashi with his top secret project... and Tadashi had just admitted it to his inspector that. Great! This was not going well.

The older man didn't seem to notice that Tadashi had just informed he was guilty of breaking yet another rule. Or maybe he _had_ noticed but simply didn't care. Or had a good poker face. The inspector pushed his glasses up on to the bridge of his nose and asked Tadashi some more questions.

They made their way around the lab, the inspector asking questions the entire time. It got to a point where he seemed to stop taking notes and was simply listening to what Tadashi had to say. That was kind of strange, especially if this was supposed to be a formal inspection. There was one perk about the informal note though and that was Tadashi seemed to relax immensely. It almost made it look like they knew each other at least on a professional level. Both of them also appeared to have forgotten that Hiro was in the lab with them. Not that he was complaining.

"That about sums it up for me here." the inspector said as he clicked his pen against his clipboard. Hiro craned his neck to see if he could read any of the notes on the clipboard. He suppressed a huff when he couldn't make anything out. "There's just one thing though..."

The way the older man's voice trailed off immediately made Hiro's eyes snap up. Tadashi looked like he was going to be sick. Without really thinking about it, Hiro closed the distance to stand beside Tadashi. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared straight at the other man with all the confidence of the Superhero that he was. The older man met his glance evenly. "Look... Tadashi, having your brother and your friends here in a S.H.I.E.L.D. lab is a huge breach in security." he sighed at length as he took off his glasses and fiddled with the ends of them.

"I know sir, it's just that..." Tadashi sighed as ran his hand through his hair in frustration.

"My brother does good work." Hiro told the other man. "You're _lucky_ to have him on your payroll. He's the best robotics engineer you and your people could ever dream of having."

"I am well aware of that. So is Coulson. He's gotten complaints though and he's asked me to address it." the other man explained.

"Whose complaining?" demanded Hiro. "Hell, we've even helped him get a few things done on this project you people have him working on. Let me go and..."

Hiro found himself forcibly cut off by Tadashi's hand over his mouth. Oh come on! Seriously! Did Tadashi really think he was fourteen still? Like this was going to work. And he'd been defending his brother too! Some gratitude! Hiro started to stick his tongue out. He knew just how to counter this little maneuver.

"I'll tell them to stop coming." Tadashi said apologetically. There was something in his expression though. It was different from the anxiety and nervousness. It was almost... painful. "But I'll probably stop using this lab space too."

The older man blinked in surprise and drew back. "Why's that?"

Tadashi's hand shook. Hiro could feel it because it was still over his mouth. Actually he could feel Tadashi's entire body shaking beside him. Very briefly, Tadashi's eyes met his but it was only a glance before he looked at the ground. He squeezed his eyes shut and grit his teeth. "Dadashii..." Hiro called from underneath his brother's hand.

Tadashi looked up from the ground, there was a fire in his eyes. "I can't work in a closed off lab. I did it once for nearly two years. I hated it. It was like working in a glass cage. Too quiet, too isolated, too... too sinister. At least with the revolving door policy that Hiro's seems to have instigated it doesn't feel like that. I can't go back to that feeling."

The inspector looked at Tadashi for nearly a full minute with genuine sympathy. Hiro felt his blood go cold. Tadashi _never_ talked to him about his time as a Hydra captive. However, that little tidbit about that quiet glass cage had to have been about the lab he'd worked out of when he was stuck with Hydra. There was a little piece of Hiro that broke. It took all his strength not to throw his arms around Tadashi right then and there.

"I'll talk to Coulson about it. Cages suck. Just tell your friends to try and be a bit more discrete in their comings and goings. I think something was said about someone who likes to wander off and ask questions about 'invisible sandwhiches' or something like that to the other scientists working here."

"I'll tell them that they're confined to my space." Tadashi laughed weakly. He cleared his throat awkwardly. "Thank you sir. For understanding."

"No problem." the inspector said as he held his hand out to Tadashi. Tadashi finally removed his hand from Hiro's mouth to shake it. "Oh and, uh, just a heads up. Um... one of our mutual colleagues _might_ have called a certain _someone_ we both know about a certain date coming up in the future..."

Tadashi groaned, "What did Stark say to Vera about her wedding?"

"He may or may not have volunteered himself to be the one to plan Travis's bachelor party." the other man grimaced.

Tadashi buried his head in his hand. He looked like he was fighting a losing battle with himself to beat his head against the wall. "Unbelievable…" he muttered.

"Wait do you mean _Tony Stark_ as in _Iron Man_ is going to be throwing Travis's bachelor party?" gaped Hiro.

"No, I am! I'm the best man." Tadashi told him quickly. He turned back to the inspector. Suddenly it occurred to Hiro, that yes, these two had definitely worked together in the past. Hiro also got a weird nagging feeling in the back of his mind that he'd seen the other man somewhere before. He just couldn't place where. "I'll take care of damage control. When did Stark make the offer?"

"He started texting me all his ideas for it about an hour before I got here." answered the older man.

"So probably three hours tops?" sighed Tadashi as he pulled out his phone to check. Hiro did the math in his head. Vera was probably still at her internship. "I'll make sure Vera doesn't feel the urge to go up to Stark's place of residence and teach him how to fly without his suit. You just make sure that he doesn't start putting down payments on whatever craziness he thinks constitutes a good bachelor's party."

"That insurance is named Pepper." smirked the inspector. "I've got to go and file my report for Director Coulson. I'll probably see you at the wedding next then?"

"Most likely." Tadashi nodded as he walked with the other man to the door. "All things considered, it was good to see you again Dr. Banner."

"You too Tadashi."

Hiro's jaw hit the ground. "That… that was Dr. Bruce Banner? The Incredible Hulk, Dr. Bruce Banner? You were just inspected by the Hulk?" he demanded, eyes going wide.

"Uh, yeah. You didn't know that? He also happens to be a top notch scientist." Tadashi said. There was a hint of a mischievous smile on his lips though. God help him. Hiro was never going to live down not recognizing him. It didn't matter though. "Good thing you didn't make him angry with your smart mouth. Otherwise I'd need a new lab."

Hiro's oh so eloquent response was a four letter word Aunt Cass would have made him wash his mouth out with soap for. Tadashi smirked, "Swear jar."

* * *

 **Sneak Peek at the next oneshot:** "Microbots"

"Looks like these are some of your notes for your microbots too. What do you want me to do with it? Should I file it or do you want to take it home?"

Hiro snapped to attention, a cold glare in his eyes. He stalked over to where Tadashi was standing and ripped the notes right out of his hand. Then, without so much as uttering a word, Hiro spun on his heel and threw the notes violently in the trash.

* * *

 **Thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed.**

 **junkyard1992:** Yep! There was a part two. I had to split it up because it was so long. I'm so glad that you enjoyed it!

 **Ember Neutron:** What do I think would've happened had Hiro succeeded in killing Callaghan during the movie? Hmm... I'm very much of the opposite belief. I don't think that he'd become like Kira from "Death Note." Now mind you, I haven't seen "Death Note" but what I know about the Kira character is that he fancies himself a self-righteous murderer who only kills people who he deems worthy of being killed. I don't think Hiro would act anything like that. If you look at the scene where Hiro is in the garage lab with Baymax directly after he fails to kill Callaghan, he is already questioning his own actions. Baymax asks him if killing Callaghan would make him feel better and Hiro responds with "yes... no... I don't know." His resolve to kill Callaghan is already dissipating as his anger, shock, hurt, and adrenaline wear off. If Hiro had managed to murder Callaghan, I think he would've been absolutely horrified with himself after all those grief-stricken emotions had settled down a bit. It all honestly comes down to who inspired him the most... Tadashi. Tadashi wanted to help people and that's the legacy that stuck with Hiro. Had Callaghan died at Hiro's hands, I think Hiro would've literally become paralyzed with his own guilt. He would've seen it as an utter betrayal to his brother's memory. He would've sank into an even greater depression and it would've taken a very long time for him to climb back out of it. He'd probably never would've put on his Supersuit again and would've snapped Baymax's red chip in half. Big Hero 6 would never go any farther than that one horrific mission. Hiro would probably dedicate himself one hundred percent to working on anything that would atone for his guilt but know in his heart that he would live with it for the rest of his life. So, yeah, that's my happy little headcanon on what would've happened had Hiro succeeded in killing Callaghan.


	6. Microbots

**A/N:** This week's oneshot is dedicated to bukalay. They have been after me to write this oneshot since I started posting _Scientist_. I do use some personal headcanons in this oneshot, the biggest being that after Tadashi's death/disappearance Krei became a huge benefactor/mentor/supporter of Big Hero 6 and more importantly Hiro. It comes in as a throw away line so it isn't a large part of the story.

 **Summary:** Hiro and Tadashi have a conversation that's been a long time in coming about Hiro's microbots.

* * *

"Hiro, when was the last time you cleaned any of this stuff out?" Tadashi asked as skimmed through some of the contents of a desk drawer. They were desperately trying to clean up Hiro's SFIT lab. Hiro had recently been informed that there would be a tour group of big name, important CEOs and they wanted to take a 'peek' into Hiro's lab. Which basically meant 'clean your lab up and make it presentable or else.'

"What do you mean? That file right there has been here for the last three years. I think you left that one behind." smirked Hiro as he pointed to the folder in Tadashi's hand.

Tadashi rolled his eyes at Hiro, "Um, no I didn't."

"Hey, you don't know for sure. You have retrograde amnesia with ginormous holes in your memory. That could be your file and you just don't remember it."

"Yes because this is totally my handwriting." he said as he raised the folder into the air. "Now do you want me to put it in the filing bin, the read later pile, or the take home pile?"

"I don't know?" shrugged Hiro. "What's in it?"

Tadashi flipped open the file once more and started reading through some of the contents. "Looks like some lecture notes on electrical wiring. A bit of computer coding for... something that kinda looks like a robotic foot?"

Hiro snickered, "Fred's suggestion."

"Do I want to know?"

"A long night of watching movies from the nineties... and a sugar rush."

"Nope, don't want to know the details." Tadashi sighed as he shook his head. He pushed back the mental image of Fred getting his brother hopped up on candy and looked back at the notes in the folder. His brow furrowed when he saw a rather large, paper clipped stack of papers. Tadashi pulled it out of the folder. "Looks like these are some of your notes for your microbots too. What do you want me to do with it? Should I file it or do you want to take it home?"

There was no answer. "Hi..." Tadashi's words died on his lips when he looked up at Hiro.

Hiro had been teasing and smirking not even five seconds ago. Now, however, there was a dark look on his face. It sent chills down Tadashi's spine. Hiro's jaw was clenched tight. His hands were balled into fists and arms rigid at his sides. He was also pointedly refusing to look at Tadashi. That's what really scared him. "Hiro?" Tadashi called nervously.

Hiro snapped to attention, a cold glare in his eyes. He stalked over to where Tadashi was standing and ripped the notes right out of his hand. Then, without so much as uttering a word, Hiro spun on his heel and threw the notes violently in the trash. There was a loud clanging sound due to the force that they hit the bottom with. Tadashi winced before looking at Hiro with guarded surprise. "Any particular reason for that reaction?"

"No." muttered Hiro as he turned back to continue sorting through a pile of stuff he'd pulled off of his bookshelf. Tadashi felt something roll over in his stomach. Hiro was refusing to look at him again... still.

"Hiro, I know I don't remember a whole lot but that was the project that got you into SFIT. Don't you think that maybe you should save it?" ventured Tadashi. He felt like he was walking on eggshells. Afraid to tread too hard over the surface of the topic.

Hiro mumbled something under his breath.

"What?" Tadashi asked as he took a couple steps closer.

"I said they can shrivel up and rot for all I care." he said. There was so much venom in his voice that Tadashi could've sworn it would've put a rattlesnake to shame. He didn't like that. Hiro shouldn't sound like that. He almost sounded like...

Tadashi shook off the thought before it got too far. His brother didn't sound _anything_ like him when he thought about the hive drones. He walked slowly over to Hiro. Gingerly, he placed his hand on Hiro's shoulder. "Just because you gave them up to work on Baymax doesn't mean you should shelve them entirely. You can come back to them once you've released Baymax on to the market. Y'know, next big project for the boy genius extraordinaire or something like that."

"How can you be so dumb!" Hiro snapped. Tadashi jumped backwards as Hiro whipped around, his hands flying out to the sides. "You don't even have a clue do you?"

"Then give me one Hiro." Tadashi said, narrowing his eyes and crossing his arms. He wouldn't let Hiro weasel his way out of this.

"There's no way I'm going to work on those stupid things ever again. I'd rather see them burn in Hell!" spat Hiro.

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Hiro's eyes went wide and he slapped his hand over his mouth. Tadashi also didn't miss the way that Hiro's glance flickered over his mess of burn scars. Tadashi grabbed the collar of his blazer and turned it up. A knee jerk reaction to cover his scars. Of course that only made the color drain out of Hiro's face. Hiro swayed on his feet. "Damn it!" he said in absolute horror, "Tadashi, I'm sorry. I didn't mean... I was just trying... please don't... I am so sorry."

Tadashi shook his head. He had no clue what Hiro was sorry for or why he was apologizing. Because he'd drawn attention to Tadashi's scars? That didn't feel right. Usually they just ignored those little moments. It was easier that way. Tadashi didn't have to confront his own guilt over his own stupid actions that led to his scars and three years of hurt for Hiro, Aunt Cass, and all his friends. "Hiro what are you sorry for?"

Hiro suddenly found the ground a whole lot more interesting than anything else in the room, especially Tadashi. A hard lump of dread settled into Tadashi's stomach. Mechanically, he forced himself to close the distance between he and Hiro again and cautiously he laid his hand on Hiro's shoulder. "Talk to me Hiro. Please?"

"It's my fault." whispered Hiro. There was a catch in his voice but a dark glare on his face as he stared over at the trash can again. "It's my fault you disappeared. It's my fault that we thought you'd died."

"What!" sputtered Tadashi. "No! No, that isn't true Hiro." Tadashi felt like he'd been slapped across the face. He jerked his hand away from Hiro as though he'd been shocked. The pained look that spread across Hiro's face told him immediately that had been a mistake.

"Yes it is! And don't you dare try to tell me it wasn't because it was!" Hiro snapped. He looked up at Tadashi and instantly Tadashi's tongue turned to lead. Though Hiro pressed his eyes shut, tears still rolled down his face. "It was all my fault."

Every last buried memories that he'd actually _tried_ to forget about the events leading up to his supposed death and actual kidnapping by Hydra. All the guilt that he'd been trying to avoid came rushing back in a wave. Tadashi had forced his brother to live with the thought that he hadn't been enough to stop him from running into a burning building. It was as if that night he'd said that Dr. Callaghan was more important than Hiro. He'd chosen his mentor over his brother and it had gotten him burned, mutilated his memory, and lead to his kidnapping as well as the subsequent years of absence. How in _Hell_ could Hiro _ever_ think that had been his fault?

"That... that wasn't your fault Hiro." Tadashi choked out. It was hard to talk when it felt like his throat was being squeezed shut. Hiro opened his eyes just enough to glare at him. "I made my choice... and I paid for it."

Tadashi raised his scarred hand into the air before motioning to Hiro. Oh how he had paid. Between the obvious pain he'd inflicted on his brother, Aunt, and friends and the abominations he'd been forced to work on, Tadashi had definitely paid for his own stupid mistakes.

Hiro let out a derisive, caustic sounding snort. "You still don't get it! If I'd never created those microbots, then Callaghan wouldn't have had anything to try and steal. You never would have had to run into the convention center to save him. _Everything_ that happened began and ended with those stupid, damned microbots! Why would I ever want those things to see the light of day again?"

"You do realize how ridiculous that sounds right?" Tadashi asked him as gently as he could. "Anything in the wrong hands can be used for evil intents. Put it in the right hands, _your_ hands, and you can help a lot of people."

"Gee, now _that_ sounds familiar." Hiro grumbled with an eye roll so deep that his eyes were liable to get stuck in the back of his head.

Unconsciously, Tadashi bristled. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Your hive drones?" Hiro reminded him tersely. Tadashi clenched his hands into fists.

"Those were different."

"How! I told you that the drones by themselves weren't bad things but you were just as bad as I am. At least I only threw the plans in the trash. You droned the hive drones in the bottom of the bay!" Hiro threw his hands into the air emphatically.

"They were nothing but weapons that were designed to hurt people." snapped Tadashi.

"They could've helped with search and rescue efforts. Used as information gatherers in dangerous areas. Delivered supplies to people in need when others can't get through to them." Hiro shot back.

"You could use your microbots to help while you're acting as a Superhero. You could brace bridges, lift cars, tear open walls, make doors, move people out of danger." Tadashi yelled angrily.

"You died because of them!" Hiro screamed back.

"It wasn't your fault!"

"Yes it was!"

The words echoed through the room. Both Tadashi and Hiro flinched. It suddenly occurred to Tadashi that the entire building could hear them arguing. He hadn't even realized that he'd been yelling. Hiro let out a frustrated scream as he scraped his fingers through his hair. He slid to the ground in front of the bookshelf and buried his head in his arms. "I used to wish that I could go back in time some days and tell myself to not invent those microbots. To just leave them be and find something else. I still do..."

Tadashi's eyes stung and even though he pressed them shut, tears still slid down his cheeks. He ducked his head. "Would it have really mattered anyways? Dr. Callaghan was hell bent on looking for revenge. Your microbots were convenient. Even if they hadn't been Callaghan would've found something else and who's to say that he wouldn't have found it that night at the convention center anyways."

"Three years nii-chan." whispered Hiro brokenly, "I thought my stupid microbots and I were the reason you were dead for three years."

Hiro had been hurting all this time. He'd wrongfully blamed himself and it had been eating away at him all this time. No wonder why he sounded so bitter over his microbots. No wonder he thought they were better burning than existing. What was worse was there was nothing Tadashi could say to comfort him. How could he? He'd been gone for three years. Tadashi had missed too much. "It wasn't the microbots Hiro and it wasn't you either. I..." his voice caught, "I chose to go after Callaghan rather than stay with you that night. It was one hundred percent my fault. There was nothing you could have done to stop me that night. The microbots played a part in what happened to me but I did it to myself. I left you... neither you or your microbots made me do that."

Hiro looked up at him. His face was red. Tadashi turned and walked slowly over to the trash can. Hiro didn't so much as move a muscle when he pulled the discarded microbot notes from the can. Tadashi curled his hands around them. It was fuzzy, but he could remember a lot of long and sleepless nights in the lab with Hiro working on them. They'd been his project but Tadashi had helped a lot. He'd remembered the intense pride he'd felt for Hiro as he'd presented them.

Tadashi sat down next to Hiro. He was close but not touching. He didn't feel like he had the right to. "We're a mess." Tadashi sighed as he looked at the notes, thumbing through them.

"You can say that again." mumbled Hiro. He still had his mouth buried underneath his arms but he was watching Tadashi carefully from the corner of his eye.

"We're a mess." Tadashi repeated lightly. That got a little laugh out of Hiro. "I wish I could take it all back too you know. Those three years were... well I don't think there's a word in English to describe how horrible they were. And you're right. It's really hypocritical of me to tell you to save your microbot notes after destroyed my hive drones. It's just that I don't think you should write them off just yet."

"You sound like Krei. He told me the same thing a few years ago." Hiro explained quietly.

"Really?"

"Yeah. That's why I kept the plans for so long... because he convinced me to wait a little while. He thought that after a little while had passed I'd be able to work on them again. I still buried them though. I couldn't stand the sight of them."

"Maybe just keep the plans for another couple of months... and then make a final decision." suggested Tadashi. He tapped his head before saying, "A lot of things are still kinda hazy y'know, but I remember how proud I was to see you present your microbots."

He held out the notes as a tentative offering. Hiro pulled his head up long enough to give Tadashi an unreadable look. Then very gingerly he took the notes from Tadashi's hand. He didn't chuck them on the floor right away which Tadashi took as a good sign. Actually Hiro started to thumb through them and it was clear that he was lost in thought somewhere. "Nii-chan," Hiro started in a small voice.

"Yeah?"

"If I promise not to destroy these, will you maybe help me work on them again one day?"

"Otouto there's nothing I would like better." Tadashi told him with a reassuring smile. He meant it from the bottom of his heart. Hiro finally smiled back. Without warning, he launched himself across the few inches that separated them and wrapped his arms around Tadashi's neck.

"I'm not ready yet but I think it's time I started looking at it from a different angle. A more positive one." Hiro said.

"Me too." Tadashi replied as he hugged Hiro just as tightly.

* * *

 **Sneak Peek at Next Week's Oneshot:**

"You know I'm used to Hiro tripping down the stairs all the time but I gotta admit that it's weird seeing you do it." Aunt Cass teased him lightly. The 'I'm talking to a ghost' smile was starting to disappear.

"I didn't trip." Tadashi defended himself. "Mochi tried to kill me."

* * *

 **Special thanks to everyone who favorited, followed, and reviewed the last chapter!**

 **Tony18:** A bachelor party with the entire BH6 gang/Tadashi and the Avengers would be absolute chaos. Lots of admiration all around and talks of science and crime fighting. It would go long into the night and Vera would be calling the designated drivers to make sure nothing was getting out of hand because she worries about everyone. The comedy would probably write itself lol. Vera's bachelorette party would be much tamer in comparison.

 **1248:** Glad you liked it. Out of all the oneshots that I've written "Inspection" was the one that took me the longest. Mainly because I couldn't figure out how to start it. I would start writing it and decide that I didn't really like the beginning. I probably rewrote the beginning three times! Yikes.

 **Ember Neutron:** Ah yes! Runescratch and their beautiful AUs and art. I see where you're coming from and that Dark Path AU is fun. And when I say fun what I mean is brutally painful and tearjerking. I haven't read the comic yet but I have it saved. Their art is amazing!

 **bukalay:** I think canon Tadashi is totally worthy of lifting Mjolnir or at least getting a wiggle from it as Steve Rogers did in AoU. _Scientist_ AU Tadashi/Chiune, I think he's worthy too but doesn't realize it. He's a little too wrapped up with his own guilt over past deeds that he doesn't think Mjolnir would even twitch for him. God help everyone though if he were to try and lift it one day (whether he fully picks it up or it just moves a little bit) because nobody could wipe the smug look off his face. Not sure why but I also like the idea of Hiro being able to at least getting Mjolnir to wiggle a little for him one day too. There look! I can do happy headcanons lol!


	7. Breakfast

**A/N:** A few weeks ago Amarin Rose asked me how I thought Mochi reacted to Tadashi coming home. That's what started the idea behind this oneshot. I kind of ballooned out from Mochi's reaction to Tadashi's relationship with Aunt Cass. This is just a snippet of how I think the two act with one another. I have a lot of love/feelings for Aunt Cass and would one day love to write a short story revolving around her discovery and her initial feelings of Hiro's Superhero job.

Another couple of notes! Next week there will be no new chapter for _Reclamation_. I am instead writing a oneshot about another one of my favorite characters, Fred. It will probably be called _Thirty Days Since My Last_ or something of the like. In the meantime, I'm going to put of a poll to decide which characters should be the focus of the next oneshot.

* * *

 **Title:** Breakfast  
 **Summary:** Tadashi swears up and down that Mochi is trying to kill him. Aunt Cass isn't one hundred percent sold on the idea.

"No, no," Tadashi said in exasperation as Mochi danced around his feet. Every time he took a step the fat cat was right there and underfoot. "No Mochi. Stop!"

Mochi let out a very long and very loud "meow" in response before plopping down right in front of him. Tadashi raised his foot and gently scooted Mochi off to the side with his toe. The cat turned around and gave him a death glare. "There you go. Good kitty." sighed Tadashi as he started down the stairs to the kitchen.

Another meow was the only warning he got before Mochi zipped down the stairs past him and pulled a sharp turn to lay on the step below Tadashi's foot. Problem was that he was already midstep when Mochi stopped dead in front of him. "Mochi! No!" he yelped as he desperately tried to avoid stepping on the cat. Anything else he might have said, or yelled, was lost as Tadashi tumbled down the stairs.

He landed with a hard, loud crash on his shoulder at the bottom of the stairs. His shoulder and side ached painfully. "Tadashi!" called Aunt Cass as she bolted from the kitchen to his side.

Tadashi mumbled a curse under his breath as he hauled himself up into a sitting position. "Ow..." he moaned as he rubbed his shoulder with a wince.

"Are you okay?" Aunt Cass asked as she dropped to her knees beside him. "How's your head?"

"Well I still remember who I am and who you are so I'm gonna go out on a limb and say no retrograde amnesia." he told her with a weak smile.

"That's good." Aunt Cass replied. Her own smile was pretty thin. There were still times when Aunt Cass looked at him as though he were a ghost floating through her house and that he was liable to disappear at the drop of the hat.

"I'm fine." he reassured her as he started to pull himself to his feet. "I promise."

"You know I'm used to Hiro tripping down the stairs all the time but I gotta admit that it's weird seeing you do it." Aunt Cass teased him lightly. The 'I'm talking to a ghost' smile was starting to disappear.

"I didn't trip." Tadashi defended himself. "Mochi tried to kill me."

The little would be assassin trotted down the stairs. Mochi rubbed up against Tadashi's legs as though he hadn't just caused him to roll down the stairs like a sack of rice. To add insult to injury, he was _purring_. Tadashi scowled and stared at the ceiling in exasperation. Aunt Cass laughed a little under her breath before bending down to pick Mochi up. The cat gave a mild meow in protest until Aunt Cass scratched him under the chin. "That's right. Act all innocent you little furball." Tadashi sighed as he gave in and scratched Mochi between the ears.

"He didn't do it on purpose Tadashi. You know that." Aunt Cass told him as she turned back towards the kitchen. Tadashi could smell the fresh baked cinnamon rolls in the oven and the coffee brewing. His stomach growled. Maybe skipping breakfast before heading to the lab to work on his doctorate thesis wasn't such a good idea. Especially if Aunt Cass had made fresh cream cheese frosting to go with them.

Aunt Cass dropped Mochi on the floor by his food dish and he seemed content to stay there. Tadashi automatically moved for the cupboard that the plates were kept in to grab a couple for he and Aunt Cass. "You know I don't think Mochi likes me very much. That's the third time this week that he's tried to sabotage my morning." he told Aunt Cass lightly.

"Oh Tadashi don't be so dramatic." Aunt Cass told him as she put cinnamon rolls on to their plates.

"I'm not being dramatic. I swear to God he hid my hat from me the other day before class just to make me late. Before that I woke up with him sleeping on my _face_. My face Aunt Cass! Hiro wasn't lying when he said he was Mochi's favorite." explained Tadashi in the most overly dramatic voice he could manage.

Aunt Cass rolled her eyes at him. "Sweetheart, you sound like your brother."

"Why does Mochi steal his class notes too?" he asked her with a grin.

She reached over and smacked him on the arm before taking a plate from him and handing him a mug of coffee. "You know what I mean." she waved her finger at him. "A few random cat antics and you think Mochi is out to get you."

"I think he's been hired by the enemies of S.H.I.E.L.D. I think my boss needs to send an extraction team for us all." he joked. That got a laugh out of Aunt Cass.

"Tadashi don't make me laugh. I'm trying to drink my coffee without it going somewhere it shouldn't be and burning." she said as she got herself under control. Tadashi only gave her a warm smile. For some reason the look she gave him looked somewhat sad but it was gone so quickly that Tadashi might have thought it was never there to begin with. Aunt Cass shook her head and sipped her coffee, hiding any more expressions behind the mug.

"In all honesty though, Aunt Cass, I really think Mochi is acting strange. He isn't so needy for affection and attention around anyone else. Maybe you ought to take him to the vet or something." he suggested.

"He's just missed you is all." shrugged Aunt Cass. "That's why he's acting like that around you. You were gone so long and he... he didn't take it well."

Her voice was tight. Tadashi knew for a fact that it wasn't just Mochi who hadn't taken his supposed death hard. "We _all_ missed you." she murmured into her coffee mug.

Tadashi looked down at his cinnamon roll. He wasn't so hungry anymore. "Aunt Cass I..." he started but then stopped because he had no clue what to say.

"But maybe you're right. I probably should talk to the vet about Mochi's behavior. We can't have him darting under you and making a game of trying to trip you down the stairs." Aunt Cass said. She cut him off and waved her coffee mug through the air dismissively. If he had to guess, Tadashi would have to say that Aunt Cass was determined not to linger on any old wounds this morning. For that he was grateful. "Eat! Eat! You're going to be late to work if you don't hurry."

"I think I can be a little late for work this morning Aunt Cass." he assured her. He took a bite anyways just to humor her. Aunt Cass had indeed made fresh cream cheese frosting for the cinnamon rolls. That was going to brighten the mood up.

"I think I've missed this the most." Aunt Cass told him suddenly. He looked up at her. She was staring into space with a kind of nostalgic look in her eyes.

"Eating cinnamon rolls and drinking coffee?"

"Yes... and no. I missed everything about what we're doing right now. Eating breakfast with you with neither one of us moving two steps away from the oven. You cracking jokes and making me laugh. You're overdramatics with the cat or with Hiro or with class. You always have some sort of comment for everything. How did Vera ever live with you I wonder?"

"With mild exasperation mostly. She didn't appreciate my 'overdramatics' as you call it. I take it Hiro isn't nearly as much fun in the mornings."

"He can barely rally himself to get up in the morning. Most mornings he comes falling down the stairs, a lot like you did this morning, and complaining that the big yellow orb in the sky needs to just back off." Aunt Cass grinned.

"And by big yellow orb in the sky you mean the sun." Tadashi's eyebrow twitched up.

"Yes. I believe I once heard Hiro say he was going to kill it with fire."

Tadashi disintegrated into snickers. He had to put his plate down on the counter to keep himself from dropping it. "I'll have to wish him luck with that."

"There were a lot more expletives interlaced but I was laughing too hard to enforce the swear jar."

"I don't blame you." he nodded.

Without warning, Aunt Cass reached out and wrapped her hand around his cheek. Her fingers rubbed his face gently with all the warm affection of a mother. He had trouble remembering his parents. No matter how many times Aunt Cass told him stories about his Mom and Dad, none of them really 'clicked into place' and unlocked memories. Not really. He hoped one day that would change. At the moment though, Aunt Cass was the one adult from his childhood he could remember the clearest. It was Aunt Cass in every memory that involved a maternal figure. And in this moment, Tadashi knew steadfastly that these moments like this small, quiet one in the kitchen eating breakfast with her was one of the things he'd subconsciously missed the most in his absent time.

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who followed, favorited, and reviewed!**

 **Tony18:** I agree with what you said about Hiro's feelings towards the microbots getting worse after realizing Tadashi survived. I think, even in canon, he'd harbor a lot of guilt and a large majority of it would be unwarranted. I'm sure Hiro's had a million and one scenarios playing through his head about how differently things would've gone had he never invented the microbots. Tadashi might have provided him some perspective but I think Hiro gave Tadashi some perspective as well.

 **Unstoppable Cyborg:** I'm sure I've heard "Battle Cry" before, I just can't quite hear the lyrics in my head. I'll have to look it up later. When it comes to writing and putting music to my work, a lot of it is just thinking a song fits a chapter, scene, or character well. Sometimes (a lot of the time) the scenes are already written, or planned out at the very least, and song is just an add on. Kind of like the frosting on the cake. Every so often though, I'll be writing and a certain song will play and all of a sudden it fits so perfectly. I can, unfortunately, no longer listen The Piano Guys' "Beethoven's Five Secrets" without calling it Vera's heroic sacrifice song. I was sobbing when I wrote that chapter for _Scientist_ while listening to that song.

 **Sanctuary in Music:** I wish I could express just how amazing your compliments made me feel. I have three things to say to you about writing. The first being to have confidence in your abilities as a writer. Some of this is developed over time but a large portion of it is to tell yourself that there is always something great in your writing. Whether it's your plot, style, grammar/mechanics, there is something awesome about your story. Second is to read. Read everything and anything you can get your hands on from the crummiest 99 cent novels to the great classics. You can learn a lot about writing from reading. Third, and most importantly, don't **EVER** stop writing. Never! Ever!

 **PerrythePlatypusGirl:** I was choking up in a few places while writing it too. I think I first came across the "Krei as an ally" headcanon in one of Latiwing's story. Fantastic author, great stories. Latiwing had that headcanon that Krei was an okay guy and it just made sense to me. He struck me as an opportunistic man in the movie but not necessarily evil. I took a few liberties in _Scientist_ to paint him as more of a sympathetic character but I truly believe that in canon that by the end of the movie, Krei was definitely trying to make amends.

 **Ember Neutron:** The wonderful thing about fandom is that everyone can share headcanons and ideas. I don't think I was the first person to ever consider how Hiro might feel guilty over creating the microbots and I doubt I'll be the last lol. I would enjoy seeing how another author such as yourself explored Hiro and his feeling towards microbots.

 **bukalay:** I'm glad you liked it so much! I know you've been wanting to see that oneshot for awhile lol.

 **tadashi fan (anon reviewer):** I think Tadashi and Hiro working on the microbots/hive drones would become a very therapeutic/healing exercise for the two of them. Not just in mending their own damaged bond but also in coming to terms with their own lingering internal conflict/hurt. At the end of it all I think Tadashi and Hiro's bond would be even stronger than before the fire at the showcase.


	8. A Picture Worth 1000 Words

**A/N:** Alright! So you guys voted for the characters in this week's oneshot and you chose Tadashi and Honey Lemon!

 **Summary:** Aunt Cass's birthday is coming up and Tadashi is trying to come up with something that can top coming back from the dead. Thankfully Honey Lemon has the perfect idea: a scrapbook.

* * *

"Alright, so tell me the story behind this picture." Tadashi said as he held up a photo of Aunt Cass dragging Hiro around by his ear outside what appeared to be a bank. It wouldn't have been as amusing had Hiro not been in full Superhero gear but without his helmet. Aunt Cass's face was an unhealthy shade of red and Hiro looked like he was beyond mortified.

"Oh, that?" Honey Lemon laughed as she sat down beside him on the ground. "GoGo managed to snap that the exact moment Aunt Cass realized that Hiro was a Superhero."

Tadashi felt his lips twitch into a smile. "She didn't take it well did she?"

"Well, to her credit, she managed to keep her cool all the way _through_ the bank robbery she was stuck in the middle of. I think Hiro's Superhero moonlighting was just the straw that broke the camel's back." Honey Lemon told him. Tadashi's eyes went wide and his jaw fell open.

"Bank robbery..." he sputtered.

Honey Lemon's eyes went wide too. "No, no, no." she said quickly as she waved her hands in front of her body. "Everything was alright. We took care of it before anyone got hurt including Aunt Cass."

Tadashi nodded stiffly. "Have I mentioned lately how much I hate the world of Superheroes and spies?"

"Not since this morning when we all got back from that runaway cable car that nearly flattened Wasabi and Baymax." she replied.

"Oh, so I'm overdue then." sighed Tadashi. "Alright so is this picture of Aunt Cass discovering Hiro's dangerous secret double life a yay or a nay for the scrapbook?"

Honey Lemon plucked the picture from his fingers and twisted it around thoughtfully. "I say yes. Aunt Cass usually sees the humor in that story now so I think it's a good one to put in. If anything it will be worth it to see the look on Hiro's face."

Tadashi laughed, "Anything to give Hiro a hard time is good by me."

"With as many practical jokes he plays I think he's owed it." smirked Honey Lemon. She handed Tadashi back the picture. Very carefully, Tadashi found a spot for it on the page and fixed it there. Aunt Cass's birthday was coming up and it was going to be her first since he'd come back home. Tadashi wanted everything to be perfect. He'd had no clue what to even get her until Honey Lemon had suggested a scrapbook. That was how he'd managed to find himself in the middle of several piles of pictures in Honey Lemon's living room.

He reached for the mug of tea that Honey Lemon had brought him and looked over his next set of choices for pictures. There was one of him and Hiro when they were younger wearing little league baseball jerseys. Another of what looked like Hiro trying to give Mochi a bath which was apparently a recent photo. There was another picture that had he, Hiro, and Aunt Cass standing in front of the cafe holding an award for the best cookies in San Fransokyo. They would all make it in the scrapbook eventually, along with the two or three photos that Honey Lemon had urged him to take while sitting in her living room. She'd gone through great lengths to take pictures of him from angles that minimized the burn scars that canvassed the majority of his one side. They weren't bad, but they weren't the best either. However, Honey Lemon had insisted seeing as how Aunt Cass had so few _current_ pictures of him. When she'd put it that way it was hard to disagree so he'd sucked it up.

Tadashi picked up another picture, a selfie of Honey Lemon in her Krei Tech lab. He smiled. "Let me guess. First day in the new lab?" he asked.

Honey Lemon chewed on her bottom lip thoughtfully. "I can't remember exactly. I take a lot of lab selfies. It drives Wasabi up the wall. He thinks that… Oh! I remember when that's from. That was the selfie I took right before I tried mixing a new combination of chemicals and drove everyone off the floor with the smell." Honey Lemon exclaimed as she took the picture from him and looked at it. A fond smile crossed her lips. "That was a fun day. Good times. Good times."

"What?" Tadashi's jaw dropped. "What were you even doing?"

Honey Lemon shot him a sheepish look. "I was trying to come up with a new type of stink bomb. You know to use instead of tear gas. That stuff burns. Have you ever had it in your eyes?"

" _No_! Have you?" he asked her, failing to keep the horror out of his voice.

"Um… yes." Honey Lemon admitted with a little shrug. "It wasn't bad or dangerous. I just wanted to know what it felt like before I used it myself while Superheroing. Long story short, I didn't like it and don't think anyone should be subjected to it."

"Oh…" Tadashi murmured as he nodded in understanding. He added, "I guess your experiment worked fairly well then."

"Not as well as I was hoping for. I'm still refining the details but I'm hoping to have it ready to go by the end of the year." Honey Lemon shrugged.

"How did clearing the entire floor fall into the realm of 'not as well as you were hoping for?'"

Honey Lemon winked, "Not smelly enough."

Tadashi couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. "Alright Honey Lemon's pre stink bomb lab goes into the scrapbook because I think Aunt Cass will like the story behind it."

"Yes!" Honey Lemon pumped the air with her fist. She looked down at the stack of pictures as Tadashi found a place for it in the scrapbook. "Oh here was a good one!" she exclaimed as she picked up a photo and handed it to him.

Tadashi raised his eyebrow. In the photo, Fred appeared to be stuck up a tree but didn't seem to concerned with it. Wasabi, who was on the ground however, seemed very perturbed. His mouth was open as if he were yelling at Fred and his finger was pointing at the ground in a 'get down here, now' type gesture. Hiro was beating his forehead into his palm in exasperation if the expression on his face was any indication. Baymax looked like he was trying to do _something_ helpful while GoGo was just laughing in the distance. Tadashi assumed it was Honey Lemon who'd taken the picture. "I'm scared to know."

"Fred stole Wasabi's car keys and refused to give them back. He climbed a tree because he knew that Wasabi wouldn't follow him."

"Alright, I'll bite. Why'd Fred steal Wasabi's car keys?"

"Because Wasabi refused to mount a laser cannon on the top of his car." Honey Lemon said simply. There was distinct smug smile on her lips.

"So the obvious thing to do was steal the car keys and hold them hostage."

"If your name is Fred then yes. I think I took that photo when Wasabi was threatening to take his laser swords to the tree. Not even that was enough to get Fred down."

"How did you manage to get him down again?"

"Baymax used 'positive reinforcement.'" Honey Lemon put the phrase in air quotes.

"Aunt Cass's cookies?" he asked.

"Aunt Cass's cookies." confirmed Honey Lemon. Tadashi laughed lightly under his breath as Honey Lemon gave it to him.

"Sometimes it still really gets me just how much I missed in the past three years." he mumbled to himself as he flipped the picture over in his hand.

"Thankfully, we have lots and lots of pictures." Honey Lemon reassured him as she looked over his shoulder. Tadashi jumped. He hadn't really expected her to hear him. "And lots of stories to tell. It's going to be a long time before we run out of things to talk about with you."

She smiled at him. Tadashi did his best not to shake his head. He had no clue how Honey Lemon could be so optimistic but then again it fit her personality. There was a small memory of a discussion on her optimism from before the fire floating around the back of his mind. She'd told him that life was too short to focus on the negatives more than what was necessary. Seeing the positives in life was much more productive. Tadashi could agree.

"It's not just the big things though like everyone graduating college without me and birthdays and christmas. It's little things like Fred climbing a tree to get away from Wasabi and you showing off your lab."

"Well, we'll make new memories." Honey Lemon assured him as she patted him on the shoulder. "And until then, a picture is worth a thousand words."

Tadashi nodded as he went for another picture. A snapshot of Wasabi, Fred, GoGo, and Honey Lemon all with a vacant look in their eyes and absolutely bedraggled appearances. Tadashi smirked, "Let me guess… right after a big show down with a villain?"

Honey Lemon frowned, "Halloween Night after chasing your brother through San Fransokyo on a candy high."

"Yep, this is going in!"

* * *

 **Thank you to everyone who reviewed, followed, and favorited!**

 **Tony18:** I've said it once and I'll say it again. I love Aunt Cass to bits and pieces. Thinking about how losing Tadashi affected her absolutely wrecked me. I think there are still some days that she does struggle with the overwhelming surrealness of Tadashi being alive and at home. There are probably still some days that she wakes up and feels as though she's still dreaming when she sees Tadashi.

 **Ember Neutron:** Whether it's the movie plot or something that Square Enix writes specifically for the BH6 world, I don't care. Big Hero 6 in KH3 is awesome! Flying on Baymax, having Hiro in the party... I don't play video games because I'm downright horrible at them but I will be binge watching all the let's plays and walkthroughs!

 **:** I'm glad that you enjoyed my story so much! Thank you for your awesome compliments!

 **tadashi fan (anon reviewer):** I hadn't thought much about a oneshot with Mrs. Matsuda. Mostly because her character is kind of a throw away line in the movie. I would have to take some more time to develop out ideas with writing something with Mrs. Matsuda. Though Vera would definitely be weirded out by having someone that old hit on Tadashi.

 **PerrythePlatypusGirl:** I would actually like to do something with all of the characters and Tadashi. Some of them are harder to come up with ideas for. However, I do have something in mind for a Fred and Tadashi focused oneshot. It might be the next one I write. I haven't quite decided yet! You're right though. Fred and Wasabi are sometimes neglected characters which makes me sad because Fred is hands down my favorite character in the movie.

 **bukalay:** Yeah, I saw the sun thingy on Tumblr too and I couldn't help but throw it in because it is so "Hiro." Depending on how far these oneshots go, I think I will definitely have to write something regarding Tadashi and his parents. I'm gonna put that on the backburner for awhile though because that's bound to be a sad fic and it's almost too easy for me to make these oneshots sad even when I don't want them to be... I'm cursed. I swear I write happy things too!

 **Unstoppable Cyborg:** Hiro, if nothing else, is a big dramatic nerd. Kill the sun with fire is probably one of the more ridiculous things he's said. I feel like Aunt Cass would keep a blog called "S*** My Genius Nephew Says..." if she had the time.

 **alifaith04:** I don't think I could write that story. It sounds like it's a story you've put a lot of thought into and I think you should have the honor of writing it.


	9. Three Years and a Handful of Months

**A/N:** Alrighty, so here's a Fred and Tadashi centric oneshot. It's kind of a direct continuation of _Thirty Days Since My Last_. Basically, this and that oneshot deals with my personal headcanon of what Fred was going to confess during the "sharing" session Baymax initiated before Callaghan threw a car at them and interrupted them.

I want to also take a quick moment and share that I will be stepping out of writing Big Hero 6 fanfiction for awhile. I don't know when I'll be back to _Reclamations_ but I need some time to regroup, refocus, and find motivation again. The last few weeks have been hard for me when it comes to Big Hero 6. I still love the fandom and the movie. It's just that I haven't been as inspired to write for it as of late and I don't want to be throwing half-assed stories out just because. I want to take some time and write something for the fandom (and the _Scientist_ AU) that I can really be proud of and have some confidence in. I don't know when that will be but I thank you for your understanding.

* * *

 **Three Years and a Handful of Months**

Tadashi mechanically banged his head against his desk. Somewhere in the back of his mind he knew he needed to stop because leaving his lab and going home for the night with a big red mark on his forehead wasn't exactly at the top of his list. There were just some things that he had to get out of his system though. His frustration over his latest, _stupid_ project for example. Beating his head against something just seemed like the best way to go about it.

"I don't think knocking yourself on the head is going to do your amnesia any favors man." Fred laughed as he waltzed into the lab. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s grade A security at work right there. Then again when his genius little brother thought it was cool to break codes for kicks and giggles and then proceed to tell all their friends what the latest codes were, there wasn't much security could do.

Tadashi pulled his head up off the desk to wave at Fred. "Hey Fred." he said tiredly.

"Hasn't GoGo gotten on you in the past about beating your head against things?" Fred asked as he leaned up against the side of Tadashi's desk.

"Yes but GoGo's not here to threaten me to stop." muttered Tadashi.

"New project going that well huh?"

"Bug after bug after bug in the coding. I set one parameter and three more decide to do their own thing. It's like a mutating bacteria on Plague Inc and I have to keep spending points to devolve it." Tadashi groaned. He sat up and waved his hands at the computer in front of him.

"Just do us a favor and don't set it on fire okay?" teased Fred.

"Can I drown it instead?" Tadashi asked with a mock hopefulness in his voice. Fred snorted before dissolving into a massive laughing fit, bent over double and everything. Tadashi rolled his eyes. "Glad you think it's funny." he said, goodnaturedly.

"I'm sorry." Fred finally said as he got himself under control. "I'm sure you'll get it eventually. You always do. Remember the time when you were working on Baymax and the speakers blew?"

Tadashi's eyebrows furrowed as he racked his brain for the memory. He remembered the story he'd been _told_ about the incident. The incident itself was still kind of murky. "Broad outline, yes. Small details, no." Tadashi told Fred after a moment.

"Well even though you couldn't hear anything all that well, I told you the same thing then. You'll figure it out."

"Yeah, I'm sure you're right." Tadashi sighed as he scrubbed at his face tiredly. He could hear GoGo's advice in his ears. He needed to take a break. He'd been looking at the project for too long as it was already. Tadashi pushed himself away from his laptop. He closed the lid and turned to face Fred. "Let's go do something Fred." he said suddenly.

"I'm game!" Fred agreed. He nodded his head enthusiastically.

Tadashi stood up and stretched. "Let's go grab a drink from Rick's." Tadashi suggested as the bar down the street popped into his head.

"You can, but I won't."

Tadashi quirked an eyebrow. "Not feeling it tonight?"

"I just don't drink anymore." Fred shrugged.

"What prompted that choice?" asked Tadashi. He distinctly remembered Fred being his go to drinking buddy before the accident.

"Honey Lemon mostly after a string of very poor life decisions. It was bad for awhile." Fred told him. Tadashi was taken aback by the tightness in Fred's voice. The look on his face was dark, as though he were lost in some bad dream that he couldn't wake up from. That and the fact that Fred had shoved one hand into his jean pocket and seemed to clutching something there. Fred also seemed to have lost the ability to look Tadashi in the eye.

"Fred?" he prompted worriedly. There were few and far times that Tadashi had seen Fred look so upset. Tadashi reached out tentatively. Fred snapped out of it, physically shaking himself from whatever dark thoughts had invaded his conscious.

"I pulled myself together though and got help." Fred assured him with pride. He pulled his hand out of his pocket and held up a large coin. Tadashi recognized it. A sobriety token. Tadashi's throat swelled shut. What exactly did you say about that sort of thing? "It's my three year medallion but I've been sober for a little longer than that."

"That's great Fred." Tadashi told him with a weak smile. He meant it. The words just sounded so lame to him and incredibly hollow. However, Fred didn't seem to mind. He flipped the coin into the air and caught it again before tucking it back in his pocket.

"Just... uh... if you could do me a favor and not tell Hiro about it? That would be great." Fred requested sheepishly. "I mean, I'm pretty open about it. It's just that..."

"You didn't want Hiro to worry about it?" finished Tadashi.

Fred nodded, "Yeah, at one point I was going to tell him on day thirty actually. Got the words half way out of my mouth even."

"Why'd you stop then?" Tadashi shot Fred a curious look. "Usually if you're going to say something you just say it."

A grin spread across Fred's face. "Yokai threw a car at our head."

Tadashi blinked. Fred's words registered in his brain. With a groan, Tadashi buried his head in his hands. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nope!" Fred assured him with tangible excitement in his voice. "So one car lobbed at our heads, a high speed chase, and a swim in the ocean later it kinda slipped my mind. I was more excited about the fact that we were going to be Superheroes and I totally forgot about it."

"Of course you did," sighed Tadashi.

"It wasn't until Hiro left that evening that I remembered that I was going to tell him about my sobriety. After that, everyone just kinda agreed that Hiro probably didn't need to know about it. He was dealing with a lot of other things."

"You were looking after him." Tadashi said quietly.

"Well duh! Kid genius is your little bro. Someone had to keep an eye on him, right?"

"Yeah, guess you're right. I have a lot to thank you for. _All_ of you." Tadashi smiled a little.

Fred just shrugged, "Nah. Don't worry about it. We all knew you'd have done it for us."

For a moment Tadashi didn't say anything. He didn't know what to say. There was no way that anyone else in the world had better friends than he did. That was for certain. "How about we get some pizza?" Tadashi offered as he finally finished pulling on his coat.

"Now _that_ I could get behind!" Fred told him as he pumped his hand through the air.

* * *

 **Thank you to those of you who favorited, followed, and reviewed!**

 **Tony18:** Yes, Tadashi would totally have fun with making new memories. I think he's definitely the kind of person that would look more to the future rather than bury himself in the past. Reconnecting with everyone is just as important to him as trying to recover the memories he originally lost.

 **Ember Neutron:** I love the idea that Aunt Cass is in on the whole Superhero thing. I love the ideas of how she found out about it even more. There's a plot bunny jumping around in my head about how Aunt Cass came to find out and I think no less than twenty four cookies were consumed as Hiro and Co. told her all about how Big Hero 6 came to be.


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